The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 61-The General
It was just a typical day at the Badgero residence, as Mike sat on the couch, playing some retro video games to pass the time. For most people, some would find it strange that someone his age would still play those types of games, but the maroon badger couldn't care less about that. As far as he was concerned, they still had something that some modern video games don't have: being fun without being over the top.
'Alright, I got a new high score!' Mike excitedly thought, happy that he was able to achieve such an accomplishment.
Just then, the maroon badger heard the doorbell ring, prompting Mike to pause the game and make his way to the front door.
"I'm coming!" he shouted, before the maroon badger put his paw on the door knob and opened it. Right in front of Mike was a badger, but quite elderly, with green fur and black stripes, and he wore a casual red shirt with rolled up sleeves and khaki pants. Upon seeing the elderly, green badger, the maroon badger smiled, as he instantly knew who he was.
"Grandpa George!" Mike exclaimed happily as he shook his grandfather's hand before being pulled into a hug as well.
"It's nice to see you too, Mike." George happily responded.
"Is that my dad?" Chuck yelled from the other room.
"Charles! Front and center!" Chuck ran in before saluting. "Better. Now give your father a hug as well!" Chuck smiled and hugged his dad.
"So dad, what brings you here to Elmore?" asked Chuck.
"I thought it would be amusing to drop in, literally!" George pointed to the front yard to show a used parachute. Chuck and Mike both looked on with disbelief but then realized that would be something George would do.
"Dad, is that legal?" Chuck asked. George had to think about it which wasn't a really good sign.
"Bah! It's not like I've ever cared." George walked over to the couch before planting himself down.
"Chuck, who are you talking to?" Olivia called out her husband, as she made her way downstairs and much to her surprise, she saw a green badger sitting on the couch, much to her joy.
"George!" she exclaimed happily.
"Olivia, you look very lovely as usual." George complimented her.
"Thank you!" Olivia said, hugging her in-law.
"So Grandpa George, what do you want to do today?" Mike asked his grandfather, as he made his way to the green badger.
"Break out the chess set. I want to see how good you are." George replied in a serious but light tone.
"You're on." said Mike, as he made his way upstairs to get the chess set, intending to have some fun times with his grandfather.
One minute later…
Once the maroon badger came back downstairs with the chess set, both he and George began to play with each other, moving one piece after another. Initially, George had the advantage and took a few pawns, until Mike managed to surprise the green badger by taking a few of his own pawns. Soon, the game got serious and both badgers made one move after another, until finally, they were at a complete stalemate, realizing that they have no more moves to make.
"You've really improved, I must say." George said, stroking the fur on his chin.
"Thanks Grandpa George." Mike accepted his grandfather's word, rubbing his head sheepishly.
Just then, the two badgers heard a series of knocks on the front door.
"Hang on, I'm coming." Mike called out, as the maroon badger got up and made his way to the front door. Upon opening it, he saw both Gumball and Darwin standing right in front of him, both having a look of disappointment on their face, much to Mike's curiosity.
"Hey Mike, is it alright if we hang out with you?" asked the blue feline.
"Gumball and I wanted to hang out with Brian, but Mr. and Mrs. O'Quinn told us that he only has a few days left until his punishment was over." the two-legged fish explained.
"Well I'm glad to hear I'm not the top man on your friendship list." Mike joked but Gumball and Darwin didn't get it.
"We didn't mean it like that!" Gumball spoke defensively.
"Yeah! You're our best buddy!" Darwin said, hoping to salvage a situation that really had no problem.
"Guys, I'm joking! You've known me for at least a few months; it shouldn't be that hard to figure it out. Anyway, come on in." Mike said, stepping aside.
Both Gumball and Darwin sighed with relief, glad that the maroon badger was just kidding around, before the two went inside the Badgero residence and both the blue feline and the two-legged fish noticed a green badger sitting on the couch.
"Hey Mike, who's the old man?" asked Gumball, causing Mike to cringe at what was coming next.
"OLD MAN?!" George stepped off the couch and stood tall over Gumball. "Drop and give me twenty!"
Stunned by the green badger's action but afraid for his life, the blue feline fearfully obliged and began to do some push-ups right away.
"One, two, three, four! Chest to the ground, soldier!" George shouted at Gumball, as the maroon badger and the two-legged fish looked on.
"Why is he doing this?" Darwin asked Mike quietly.
"Force of habit?" the maroon badger joked.
Mike's answer, however, didn't impress Darwin, as he glared at his friend in response, much to the maroon badger's discomfort.
"Ow…my arms." Gumball cried, prompting his friends to see that their friend was done with his push-ups.
"Okay grandpa, I think he's learned his lesson." said Mike, calming George down.
Both Gumball and Darwin looked at Mike with a look of astonishment, stunned what the maroon badger said just now.
"That crazy old man is your grandfather?!" Darwin angrily exclaimed, prompting George to confront the two-legged fish.
"Twenty!" George shouted as he pointed to the ground.
'Me and my big mouth!' Darwin thought in dismay, before the two-legged fish began to do some push-ups.
"We'll drill some respect into those heads of yours!"
Mike could only chuckle as he made his way to Gumball.
"Is your grandfather always like this?" the blue feline whispered to his friend.
"Just to people who want to call him old." Mike replied, as he pulled Gumball off the floor.
As the blue feline dusted himself off and tried to regain his composure, Darwin, on the other hand, performed one last push-up, before collapsing to the floor, completely tired out.
"Alright, Grandpa..." Mike began. "You've had your fun."
"If you say so, Mike." said George, before a thought hit him. "Say, do you have any plans for today?"
"Well I do now." Mike said as he tried to get Darwin up from the ground.
"Is it alright if I tag along with you and your friends?" George asked his grandson.
"Why not?" Mike agreed.
"He made us do pushups." Gumball whispered. "That's why not!"
"I'm going to agree with Gumball on this one, Mike." Darwin whispered back. "I don't like being around him one bit."
"Just stop worrying!" Mike assured them. "Besides; you guys really shouldn't call the elderly "old"."
"...Alright, if you say so." Gumball reluctantly said, with Darwin nodding his head.
"Just watch what you say." Mike turned back to his grandpa. "Okay, Grandpa! Let's go!"
George couldn't help but smile, happy to hear his grandson's response, before he allowed Mike and his friends to lead him outside.
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Elmore, as Mike, along with Gumball, Darwin and George were walking down through the neighborhood, though for the blue feline and the two-legged fish, they were hardly happy, especially since George was here.
"Mike, are you sure it's a good idea to bring your grandpa with us?" Gumball whispered to the maroon badger.
"No offense Mike, but the last thing I want is to do more push-ups." Darwin agreed with his brother. "My arms are still sore from the last set."
"Guys, I know he might be rough, but he's a really cool guy." Mike insisted to his friends, attempting to calm the duo down. "As long as you treat him with respect, everything will be fine."
"What? Treat him like he's some kind of army general or something?" Gumball sarcastically asked.
Mike didn't respond right away, as he pondered for a moment, before turning his attention to his friend once more.
"Well he is one." Mike said honestly. Gumball and Darwin looked at Mike with amazement as they weren't expecting George to actually be a military man. Then a thought occurred to Mike. "Gumball, do you know what respect is?"
"Um...a positive feeling?" the blue feline nervously responded, irking the maroon badger, before Mike turned his attention to Darwin.
"Darwin, do you know what respect is?"
"Is it where you earned it through hard work and patience?" Darwin responded with uncertainty.
"Close enough." said Mike.
"What's your point, Mike?" asked Gumball.
"You're screwed. That's my point." Mike stated.
"Somehow, that wasn't very reassuring." Gumball said flatly.
"What are you boys talking about?" asked George.
"Nothing Grandpa. Nothing at all." Mike said with a straight face.
"Yeah, what he said." Gumball insisted, with Darwin nodding his head in agreement.
"Alright then." said George, weirded out by their reactions.
As the four continued on their walk, suddenly out of nowhere, a series of stomps occurred. Each rumble was getting louder and more intense by the minute, shaking the ground that Mike, George and the Watterson brothers were standing on. Eventually, the stomping ceased, prompting the four to turn around and see Tina standing right behind them.
"Hello boys. Looks like fur ball isn't with you." the carnivore noted.
"Well technically three out of four of us are covered in fur." Mike pointed out, uninterested that there was a twenty foot tall t-rex in front of him.
"Whatever you say, stripes." Tina said dismissively, before spotting George among the group. "Who's the old timer with you?"
"Old timer?!" George shouted.
"Oh boy." Mike muttered, as he face palmed.
The green badger, feeling insulted from the carnivore's words, immediately made his way to Tina, as the carnivore looked on with curiosity.
"Young lady, I suggest you apologize this instant!" George demanded.
"What are you going to do, old man?" Tina mocked. "Talk to me to death?"
As the dinosaur laughed at her own joke, George didn't respond right away. He then noticed a nearby tree just a few inches away from. Smiling rather deviously, the green badger passed by Tina and made his way towards the tree; grabbing the tree with both paws, George proceeded to rip the tree from its foundation, much to Tina's shock. Likewise, both Gumball and Darwin were amazed by the sight, their jaws almost dropping to the ground in response.
"Wow, he must really work out!" Gumball exclaimed.
"Either that or he could have been on a healthy diet." Darwin stated.
"Who's an old timer now?" George called out to Tina.
The carnivore, however, didn't respond right away, too nervous that someone like George could pull off such a feat and before she knew what happened next, the green badger ran right after her, wielding the tree like a baseball bat, prompting Tina to quickly turn around and flee in terror, until she disappeared around the corner. George looked on, satisfied with his actions, before he made his way right back to the boys, with the tree still in his paws, before his grandson approached him.
"Grandpa, put the tree back." Mike said plainly as if this wasn't anything new to him.
"If you say so Mike." George obliged, as he put the tree back into its foundation like it was nothing. "Alright boys, let's continue on with our walk."
With that, the four continued on with their walk, but for Gumball and Darwin, today has gotten a little more frightening for them, especially after they witnessed the green badger's strength.
"Mike... I'm scared." Darwin nervously whispered to the maroon badger.
"Me too." Gumball agreed with his brother.
"Don't worry too much about it. Despite my Grandpa's recklessness, he's a really cool guy." Mike's answer however didn't calm his friends' nerves, much to his disappointment.
'Great, my grandpa has turned my friends into even bigger cowards. I'm not gonna lie; I didn't think that was really possible.'
After walking around the neighborhood for quite some time, Mike decided to bring his friends and his grandfather to the mall and for the maroon badger, he hoped that spending some time here would be enough to calm his friends down, as well as get them to like his grandfather.
'I just hope that these two would at least give him a chance.' the maroon badger thought, before his grandfather spoke.
"Well, what can we do here?"
"Let's look around for a bit until we find something interesting." Mike suggested.
Gumball, Darwin and George agreed with the maroon badger and soon the four began to wander around, trying to find a place of interest that was worth checking out. So far, however, there was not one place that caught their interest, much to their dismay. After what like a very long time, all four ended up bumping into a series of hard objects, causing them to fall down. As Mike, his grandfather and his friends got up; the three boys noticed that they have accidentally bumped into Ivan and his friends, much to their dismay.
"Oh boy." Darwin cringed.
"Place your bets, folks; how long before one of them calls Grandpa 'old'." Mike whispered.
"I give them thirty seconds." Gumball joked.
"Hey, watch where you going!" Ivan rudely responded.
"Yeah, you and the old geezer need to look out next time." Joey stated, unaware of what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry, but did you just call me an 'old geezer'?" George asked, looking at the broccoli with a suspicious look.
"Um... yeah?" Joey sheepishly replied
"Scratch that; make it five seconds." Gumball said plainly.
"Alright you youngsters. Looks like I'll have to teach you a thing or two about respect." George stated, as he cracked his knuckles.
Before Ivan and his friends knew what happened next, the green badger stood up and looked down on them, clearly dwarfing the now frightened boys.
"Um, I just realized I have something important to do." Ivan fearfully stated, before he and his friends turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
"Now I know where that violent disposition you sometimes have comes from." Darwin pointed out.
"Did you say something?" asked George.
"N-nothing at all, sir!" Darwin fearfully insisted.
"Come on, grandpa, before someone comes to arrest you." Mike grumbled as he led both his grandfather and his friends away. But as they made it halfway to the exit, however, the four heard someone screaming, much to Mike's chagrin.
"Oh what now?!" All four looked in the direction of the scream to see Sal Left Thumb holding up a jewelry store. "Didn't we put that guy through a table at Joyful Burger?"
"Yeah but they never arrested him because he disappeared after we left." Gumball pointed out, as and his friends hid behind some trash cans.
"The cops really need to get their acts together." Darwin added.
"Boys, are you aware that he is using a fork as a weapon?" asked George, before he pointed to the silverware on the robber's hand.
"Yeah, he's not the most impressive of robbers. That said most of the people in this town lack common sense in what's dangerous and what's not." Mike said, calling it like he sees it.
"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" George asked to no one in particular.
"Maybe because the answer is right in front of you." Mike pointed out.
"Anyway, we need to come up with a plan to thwart that robber before he gets away." George stated.
"Grandpa, I don't think you need a plan to take on some idiot with a fork."
"That doesn't mean he might have a trick or two just in case." said George.
"Grandpa, we put him through a restaurant table using a hamburger and a dropkick. I don't think he's got anything!" Mike argued.
"Hold on Mike, maybe your grandpa might be on to something." Gumball said.
"At least hear him out first." Darwin insisted.
"You must think strategically, my boy." George said.
"...Alright, we'll go for overkill." Mike reluctantly agreed.
"That's all I needed to hear." George spoke with a smile. "Now, here's what I got…"
Soon, the green badger huddled them up, informing the three boys on what he had in mind.
Sal Left Thumb couldn't believe his luck. The moment he laid his eyes on the jewelry store, the robber saw this as a chance to make some quick cash, prompting him to casually make his way in and threaten the cashier, a humanoid with a rectangle-shaped head, with a fork and before long, the cashier gave him all of the jewelry he had.
'Now this is more like it.' Sal thought to himself.
"Yo Sal!" Sal Left Thumb turned around to see Mike leaning against the door frame of the entrance to the store. "Sup." Mike's face was almost instantly recognized by Sal.
"You're the runt who kicked me in the face the other day!" the robber angrily shouted.
"How'd you know? Last time I checked, you had an eye full of ketchup. That could have been anyone who shoved their size three sneakers into your teeth." Mike said, pointing out the flaw in the robber's accusation. "It must have been my amazing voice that tipped you off!"
"Don't make smart aleck jokes on me, sucka..." Sal darkly began. "I'm well prepared this time around."
"With what? A butter knife?" Mike joked.
Oddly enough, Sal strangely smiled, much to Mike's curiosity. Before long, the robber threw the fork down to the ground and almost immediately pulled out not silverware, but a big disintegrating ray gun instead, to the maroon badger's shock.
"Who's laughing now?" Sal sarcastically asked, as he pulled the trigger from the ray gun.
Mike instinctively dodged the laser as best as he could, before he turned around and saw that the laser hit the nearest plant, instantly turning it into a pile of ashes, before the maroon badger nervously turned his attention to the robber.
"I suggest you run." the robber insisted.
"Good idea." Mike then immediately ran out of the store as fast as he possibly could.
Oh man! I can't believe he actually tried to kill me back there!' Mike thought, all the while dodging lasers from Sal's ray gun. 'Where does a robber wielding silverware as a weapon get a ray gun?!'
"Hold still so I can hit you!" Sal called out, before he shoots another laser.
"Yeah, not happening!" Mike shouted as he continued to run.
Mike continued to run as fast he can, while the robber continued to shoot erratically, only succeeding in destroying some random objects around the mall, much to the maroon badger's amusement.
"Thanks for having terrible aim!" Mike, even when being chased by a maniac, still couldn't resist.
"You're going to regret that!" Sal retorted, before he continued to shoot at the maroon badger once more.
'Where are they?! Today, people, today!' Mike thought, continuing to run with all of his might, until he finally found himself in a dead end, much to his displeasure.
"Why is there a random dead end at a mall?!" Mike shouted, looking at the wall.
"Ya may wanna put a little more emphasis on 'dead'!" Mike turned around to see Sal standing at the end of the hall.
"Do you have any last words, sucka?" Sal asked, preparing to make the shot.
"You pull that trigger and you're going to be in a world of pain." an older voice suddenly spoke out of nowhere, prompting Sal to turn around to see a feeble looking old man with a cane.
"What's an old man like you going to do about it?" asked the robber, as he arched an eyebrow.
As Sal wondered about the sudden appearance of the feeble looking old man, Mike, meanwhile noticed a rope lowered down to him, much to his surprise. Without any hesitation, the maroon badger quietly climbed up it, eventually disappearing from the robber's sight. Sal, sensing something was amiss, quickly turned around and saw that Mike was nowhere to be found.
"What the-? Where did he go?!" the robber exclaimed, before he felt a light tap on the shoulder, prompting Sal to turn around and saw the feeble looking old man now standing straight up, as he quickly whacked him with his cane, knocking the ray gun out of his hands.
"Geronimo!" shouted two voices, as the robber looked up and saw Gumball and Darwin leaping from above, as the two tackled him to the ground and quickly began beating him up.
"Save some for me! I want some payback!" Mike shouted, before he leaped towards Sal.
"Me too!" George shouted.
Soon, all four began to pummel the unfortunate robber until eventually, Sal was left dazed and knocked out, his body covered in bruises and his head filled with lumps, much to the four's relief.
"Okay, we need to make sure he doesn't get away this time." Gumball noted, before he turned to his brother. "Darwin?"
Darwin pulled out some rope and with Gumball's help, tied up Sal so he couldn't do another disappearing act. While they were doing this, George walked over and picked up the ray gun.
"How did someone like him manage to get his hands on this thing?" asked George.
"Grandpa, you should probably turn that in or something." said Mike, concerned.
"That sounds like a good idea." said George.
But as his nephew turned his back, the green badger secretly tucked the ray gun away, hoping that no one saw what he had just done.
It took a long while, but eventually the police managed to arrive in the mall, as they took an unconscious Sal back to one of their cruisers, while the Doughnut Sheriff confronted Gumball, Darwin, Mike and George after interviewing several witnesses about the incident.
"We've got reports of this guy using a strange weapon. Do any of you know where that is?" the Doughnut Sheriff asked.
"Can't say I do, officer." George said calmly.
"If you say so then." the Doughnut Sheriff accepted the explanation, despite his suspicion. "Anyway, I need to take this punk back to jail."
With that, he and his fellow officers drove away, with Sal in the back seat, before Mike and the Watterson brothers confronted the green badger.
"Grandpa..." Mike looked at George, demanding an answer.
"You think I'm going to hand over a weapon that powerful to someone like him?" George defended.
"Are you sure that was the right thing, Mr. Badgero?" asked a concerned Gumball.
"It's better in the hands of more trustworthy people. The less that they know about this technology, the better." the green badger adamantly replied.
"I guess that makes sense then." Darwin commented.
"That's all I needed to hear." said George. "Anyway, let's head back home. The sun is about to set."
With that, the four began the long walk home, before Gumball and Darwin began to start up a conversation with Mike, much to the maroon badger's curiosity.
"Mike, I'll have to admit…" Gumball began. "Even though today turned out quite differently than I imagined, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Plus, your grandpa turned out to be a really cool guy."
"Even though he can be a bit scary, he actually knew what he was doing and even taught us a few tricks." Darwin added. "I'm glad Gumball and I had a chance to get to know him."
"Thanks guys, I'm happy that you gave my grandpa a chance." said Mike, satisfied that his friends managed to get along with someone like George.
'I can't wait to tell Brian how today turned out.'
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 62-The Plane
The Watterson family is going to visit Nicole's sister but need to take a plane to get there. But Darwin doesn't make things easy due to his fear of flying.
Tidbits
-The name of Mike's grandfather, believe it or not, was actually inspired by George Patton, the late army general.
-For the voice of George Badgero, both me and Sal imagined Lance Henriksen providing his voice, due to his role as Admiral Hackett from the Mass Effect trilogy.
-Originally, I was planning to have Brian in this chapter, but eventually, both Sal and I decided to write a few more chapters to give some characters more development. Don't worry folks, Brian will still be mentioned throughout the story and he shall return.
-I just wanted to thank Sal for coming up with this chapter idea.
I hope everyone enjoyed reading The General and I'll be seeing ya next time!