Great spirits of all who lived before
Take our hands and lead us
Fill our hearts and souls with all you know
- "Great Spirits", Tina Turner
Thousands of years ago, ancient civilizations ruled the world.
The most popular and well-known of these societies was the Hani-Baba Tribe. The Hani-Baba were by far the largest recorded society in history, reigning over the regions of Prickly Pines Forest, Twisted Jungle and Bedrock Desert. The society was named after their deities: Hani and Baba, the Creator Gods. In the heart of their territory was the Temple of the Creation Gods, the single most important building to the people and the epicenter of their culture.
One of the most important items in the temple was a purple tree known to the people as the Wishing Tree, or sometimes Gaia's Gift in official ceremonies. As the story goes, after Hani and Baba created everything under the sun, Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth, had presented herself to the people. As a reward for the peoples' kind and virtuous nature, she gifted them with a beautiful tree that could grant them any wish they desired. Because of the tree's importance, it was placed in the top chamber of the temple, and a hole had been made in the roof so that the tree could bask in the sun's light.
As one of the five ceremonial spots, the Wishing Tree was given great reverence. Care for the tree was taken with the utmost urgency, and it was the responsibility of every member of the Hani-Baba society, even the six leaders, to care for the tree. To keep it fair, a rotation system had been set up with every member's name placed on it.
On a particularly nice day, a group of teenage friends were conducting maintenance on the Wishing Tree. They were ensuring no weeds sprouted up in the Wishing Tree's soil, and that no bugs were bringing harm to the tree's trunk. The teenagers were used to the assignment, having done so many times before. What they didn't realize in the moment was how they were about to shape the future, all because of one question.
"How many times have we cleaned this tree?" Pebbles Flintstone asked her friends, interrupting Wiggy Rockstone's horoscope discussion.
"Oh, I'd say at least over a hundred times," Penny Pillar answered. "If I had a calendar, I can give you a more accurate number."
"No need, a hundred works just fine," Pebbles reassured her friend.
"What are you thinking, Pebbles?" Bamm-Bamm Rubbles asked, eyeing her apprehensively.
As Pebbles' friend since diapers, Bamm-Bamm was well acquainted with the girl's ideas that quickly evolved into doozies. Although her question seemed innocent, Bamm-Bamm had a feeling it was anything but.
"Have any of you made a wish?" Pebbles asked.
"Pebbles, you know better than anyone that the wishes are facilitated through the leaders," Moonrock Crater reminded the redhead.
To ensure that wishes would not be misused, it was decided that if a member wanted a wish granted, they had to present it to the six leaders - Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, and Secret Squirrel. The six leaders would decide if the wish was necessary, and if so, then the leaders would approach the Wishing Tree and ask the wish.
"I know, I know, but wouldn't it be nice to make a wish without anyone knowing?" Pebbles asked.
"Well, what would you wish for?" Penny asked. Though she didn't want to say it out loud, she was interested in Pebbles' line of thought.
"I've been thinking about this for a while," Pebbles' began.
"Really?" Bamm-Bamm interrupted her, looking skeptical.
"Yes, really," Pebbles fired back, sending the boy a pout. "The Wishing Tree can grant any wish. So far, all we've asked is for material things like food or objects."
"Necessary things," Moonrock pointed out.
"Yes, but, I think the tree can do even more," Pebbles continued. "Bamm-Bamm, haven't you ever wondered how a fight would turn out?"
"All of us do, but Aralia is a fantastic strategist so I never have to worry about the future of the fight. We'll always win," Bamm-Bamm answered.
"Yes, but wouldn't it be nice to know the outcome of the fight before the fight even happened?" Pebbles questioned.
"You mean like seeing into the future?" Penny asked.
Wiggy gasped and slapped her hands on her cheeks.
"Ohhh, that would be incredible! It'd be like a horoscope reading," Wiggy enthused.
"Hold on, how do we even know it can tell the future? So far, the Wishing Tree has only granted physical wishes," Moonrock pointed out.
Pebbles smiled in a way that led her friends to believe they'd fallen for her trap. "Only one way to find out, right?"
"Pebbles-" Bamm-Bamm's warning was interrupted by the girl herself.
"It'll be for the good of the community, Bamm-Bamm," she argued. "Think about it. If we know that the Wishing Tree can tell the future, then our society will be better off. We can plan our harvests for the best time, providing a larger bounty for the community."
"I don't know..." Wiggy trailed off, looking to Moonrock for his input.
"Well, I think we should give it a try," Pebbles said decisively, and she spun away from her friends to face the tree. Before her friends could stop her, Pebbles requested of the tree, "I wish to know if the earth will be destroyed in the future."
The teenagers held their breath, waiting for something to happen. After a long moment of nothing coming from the Wishing Tree, the teenagers came back to themselves. Pebbles' shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Well shoot," she complained with a huff of frustration.
"Why would you make that wish?" Penny asked.
"What? Aren't you curious about what the future holds?"
"Well yes, but I thought you'd go for something simpler. Why'd you choose end of the world?"
"You know, just in case something terrible happens. Isn't it better to know when something terrible is going to happen?" Pebbles reasoned.
"Well, it doesn't look like the Wishing Tree can actually answer-"
Bamm-Bamm's remark trailed off as they watched the Wishing Tree morph. Nothing about the tree's bark changed, nor did its leaves change color. To the shock of the teenagers, the Wishing Tree grew eyes and a mouth. Green eyes stared down at the teenagers, and the teenagers stared back in dumbstruck awe. For another silent moment, no one said a thing. Then, the green eyes of the Wishing Tree glowed until the pupils of its eyes disappeared.
"In the far-flung future, an invader from the stars will come and wage war upon the Earth. It shall be a short war, and the invader will be victorious. As its reward, it shall consume the planet, bringing an end to the planet Earth," the Wishing Tree decreed in an ethereal voice.
The glow in the Wishing Tree's eyes dimmed until the pupils returned. Once more, the chamber was in silence as the news settled in. The Wishing Tree stared onward passively while the teenagers were thunderstruck.
"The...The world really..." Penny was too stunned to get a proper thought out.
"We need to tell daddy, right now," Pebbles ordered in urgency.
"But daddy, I'm serious," Pebbles complained, her voice pitched high in a whine. "The Wishing Tree told us itself."
"Honey, the Wishing Tree can't-"
"But it can!" Pebbles protested, her raised voice reverberating loudly in the chamber.
Fred Flintstone, one of the six leaders, heaved a deep sigh. He and the other five leaders were having a discussion about the upcoming harvest when his daughter and her friends burst into their chambers. Bad enough she and her friends had entered unannounced, but then they came in saying that the Wishing Tree had developed facial features and that the tree said the Earth would be destroyed in the future.
"She's not lying, Mr. Flintstone," Bamm-Bamm interjected. "One moment the Wishing Tree looked like a plain tree, and then the next its got eyes and a mouth!"
"Maybe we should check on the tree, to see if these kitties are telling the truth," Top Cat suggested.
"We are telling the truth!" Pebbles protested.
"Now just calm down, honey," Fred said. "We just need to confirm for ourselves that the Wishing Tree does in fact have eyes and a mouth."
"Well it does, and you'll see I'm right," Pebbles replied, crossing her arms and pouting.
"If ya'll say that the Wishing Tree told you of the end of the world, then for the sake of our posterity Aah hope you are wrong," Huckleberry Hound said in his drawl.
Unfortunately for the six leaders, Pebbles and her friends were correct. The leaders and the teenagers stood at the base of the Wishing Tree. The leaders stared upward in shock as a pair of green eyes stared back passively.
"Looks like the kitty-cats were right," Top Cat remarked, lifting up his hat so he could scratch at the fur on top of his head.
"Well, what are we going to do?" Yogi Bear asked, also lifting up his hat while he scratched the fur at the top of his head.
"Isn't it obvious?" Quick Draw McGraw asked rhetorically. "We got to take the fight to the invader!"
"Now hold your britches there. The invader won't come for a very long time," Huckleberry reminded the horse.
"We gotta do something," Pebbles said.
"I know, honey, but Huckleberry's right. The invasion won't come for a very long time, and we'll be long gone," Fred responded to his daughter.
"But shouldn't we do something, sir? We know about it, so it doesn't seem right to not let the people in the future know," Bamm-Bamm said.
"Why don't we use the Wishing Tree?" Top Cat remarked.
Several eyes fell on the feline. Not at all intimidated by the stares, the cat shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, the kitties here used the tree to know about the future. Why not make a wish for the Earth to not be invaded?"
"You know, that's not a bad idea," Fred remarked.
"It has my vote behind it," Secret Squirrel threw in.
"Very well," Huckleberry said. He raised his head and said, "Wishing Tree, Aah wish that the Earth won't be invaded by the intruder from the stars."
For a moment, everyone held their breath as they waited on confirmation from the Wishing Tree.
"That cannot be done," the Wishing Tree stated, its eyes remaining a dimmed green color. "The Earth shall be invaded."
"Well shoot, that smarts," Quick Draw McGraw complained, snapping his hooves.
"Hmmm," Huckleberry drawled. "Wishing Tree, Ah wish for the invader to be defeated when it wages war on our planet."
"You think that'll work?" Yogi asked.
Huckleberry shrugged his shoulders. "Aah figured Aah ought ta try."
"For the sake of the Earth, it better," Secret Squirrel commented.
Everyone watched the tree with rapt attention, waiting for a response. Then, the eyes of the Wishing Tree glowed until its pupils disappeared.
"You will begin the construction of obelisks immediately. Craft one for each leaf I have on my branches. The obelisks will be twenty feet in height and five feet in length. Take the earth from the Twisted Jungle and mix it with the waters from the Falls of the Protector to make the material you will construct the obelisks with. Strip the leaves from my branches and place a single leaf in the heart of each obelisk, then heat the constructs over the crater of Mt. Magog and cool with the winds in the Bedrock Desert. Once the obelisks are completed, you will place them around the globe in specific locations that I will provide to you.
"Next, a book shall be crafted. Strip the bark from my trunk and turn it into paper. On these sheets, you will dictate everything I have spoken about on the coming of Fuse, including the purposes of the totems and their activation, as well as spells and potions to be added to the benefit of the future generation. Turn a part of the bark into a harder material to make the cover that shall protect the sheets.
"From the sheets you make, separate a single one. On this page you will dictate the prophecy of the Master Weapon. I shall relay the prophecy to the author when this stage has been met."
The eyes of the Wishing Tree stopped glowing, returning to their regular green color. Once again, the chamber fell into silence as everyone absorbed what the tree had instructed of them.
"Uh, I might have missed it, but didn't we wish for the invader to be beaten?" Yogi asked, scratching the fur under his hat.
"You did," the Wishing Tree responded.
"So was this wish granted?" Secret Squirrel questioned.
"It was," the Wishing Tree responded.
"And this will defeat the invader?" Huckleberry inquired.
"It shall," the Wishing Tree responded.
The leaders shared a dubious look with each other, not following the Wishing Tree's logic. They trusted that the tree had fulfilled their wish just as it had filled all their wishes before, but they found themselves lost on how totems, a book, and a scroll were supposed to defeat an invader; at least the Master Weapon sounded promising.
"Uhh, excuse me, o' Wishing Tree," Moonrock said as he approached the trunk of the magical tree. "How exactly will the things you asked us to construct beat the invader?"
"The invader shall be beaten by the One Touched by Fate. Imbued with the Power of Destiny, they will be able to activate the totems, creating a protective sphere around the globe. The scroll and the book are designed to provide assistance to the One Touched By Fate. The scroll will lead them to craft the Master Weapon, and the Book of Prophecy will unlock the Power of Destiny inside them," the Wishing Tree explained.
Everyone in assembly nodded their heads, now following the logic of the Wishing Tree. Everyone was more reassured now that they knew there would be someone who'd defeat the invader; it made the wish more concrete.
"Alright, call up an announcement," Fred dictated. "We need to tell the people pronto."
"Thank you, everyone, for coming on such short notice."
Not far from the temple was an amphitheater used for when the leaders had to give out announcements. Typically, the meetings were scheduled. Everyone from the tribe, from the smallest child to the oldest member, sat in attendance, waiting to know why an emergency meeting had been called so suddenly.
"Are we under attack?" Aralia, the tribe's Te Xuan Ze and leader of the heroes, immediately asked.
Given the abnormality of the meeting, Aralia's mind immediately went to the worst. Her fellow heroes - Zandor, Ugh, Tor (alter ego of Mightor) and Captain Caveman - all tensed at the idea of an invasion. It'd been a while since they'd had to protect the territory, but they were ready for whatever trouble was on its way.
"No, no, we're not under attack," Fred said, trying to calm their nerves.
"But we will be," Yogi mentioned.
This stirred up the crowd into excitement. Maw Rugg pulled her youngest, Shag, into a tight embrace. Friends Cindy Bear and Floral Rugg attempted to keep each other's spirits up by reassuring each other that everything would be alright. Betty Rubble looked at her friend Wilma Flintstone to see if she knew what Fred was talking about, but the redhead shook her head in denial. Sheera, Gara, and Tarra all shared uneasy looks with one another, and Gara kept an extra tight hold on her little Tana. Lok, Dorno and Little Rok were all bravado as they discussed what sort of enemy would be attacking their settlement and how they'd like to join the heroes in the fight now that they were older. The heroes, except for Bamm-Bamm, were tense and immediately consulted with their leader on how soon they could be ready for a fight. Aralia declined an immediate answer, instead waiting for the orders from the tribe's leaders.
"Smooth," Secret Squirrel said sarcastically.
"What?" Yogi questioned, not at all getting why Fred and Top Cat were glaring at him.
Huckleberry Hound stepped forward so that he could address the crowd. The audience quieted down for a moment, waiting to hear what another leader had to say on the matter.
"Now folks, Aah need ya'll ta calm down. What Yogi means is that we have been told by Gaia's Gift that the Earth will be destroyed in the future." More unrest erupted from the crowd, and Huckleberry raised his paws to calm the crowd down. "Now folks, we've already made a wish for the invader to be defeated, and we were given instructions on how this can be done."
"Yah mean the tree done speaked ta ya'll?" Paw Rugg asked, though his mumbling made it difficult to make out.
"The Wishing Tree talks?" Gorak asked.
"It does, but let's just all stay on task," Huckleberry said. "If we don't want the Earth to be destroyed, we need ta-"
"But you said that it won't happen until the future!" Peter Potamus interrupted, standing up from his seat so he could be seen by everyone. "What does that have to do with us?"
"It's true that the invasion won't happen until the future, long after we're all gone," Fred conceded, stepping up to answer the question. "However, we know this will happen one day, and it'd be wrong for us to know about it and not do what we can to help. These people are our descendants, and we can't let them be killed simply because we didn't want to do anything to help prepare them."
The crowd looked at each other, murmuring in low tones. It seemed like all of them were discussing whether the future invader was their problem or not. Finally, the crowd seemed to agree that they needed to assist the future generation from an invader and turned back to the leaders, waiting for their instructions.
"Here's what we got to do..."
It took a year for the Hani-Baba to complete the construction of the totems. It took them another year to distribute the totems around the world. The last totem they put into the dirt was placed in a chamber in the lower section of the temple. With the final totem erected, the Hani-Baba held a victory celebration in honor of the Earth's defeat of the invader from the stars. It was a victory they would never see, but it was a victory they were assured would happen because they had made a wish, and they knew the wish would be fulfilled.
While the Hani-Baba had averted the end of the Earth, they did not avert their own tribe's demise. Nearly a century after, the Hani-Baba were defeated and sacked by an enemy from the north. The enemy had crossed the ocean when they had heard of the Wishing Tree's abilities. The Hani-Baba's old warriors no longer existed, and due to the peace that they had experienced, the new warriors were weak and easy to defeat. The victorious party approached the Wishing Tree and chopped it down, intending to take it as their prize. While the Wishing Tree was indeed a magical tree, it was still a tree and so it died when it was severed from its roots. However, the enemy did not return empty handed. Seeds had been discovered at the base of the tree when they had been chopping it, and so they brought the seeds to their settlement.
Angered that her gift had been recklessly destroyed by hearts filled with greed, Gaia tampered with the seeds while they were in the soil and turned them dark. The tree still grew, but it was dark in bark and leaves, and so the tribe referred to it as the Dark Tree. The tree still granted wishes, but it could only grant one wish a day and could not do something so grandiose as her gift once could. Despite the limitations, the tribe from the north still revered and guarded their precious tree.
The remainder of the Hani-Baba that had survived after the sacking left their settlement out of shame for not doing more to protect it. For centuries after, the temple and its associated structures were left abandoned, at the mercy of time and the elements. The only building that survived was the temple itself, protecting the secrets it contained inside. While the book and scroll would eventually be discovered by tomb raiders looking for riches and finding none, the Wish remained unknown and undiscovered.
The Earth evolved, and small settlements turned into giant skyscrapers. Small civilizations gave way to large governments. Mutant toddlers, imaginary friends, giant robots, child geniuses, superheroes, aliens, EVOs, and cryptids became the new norm of society. In their day-to-day life, none knew of the path Fate and Destiny had been sowing since the day the Wish had been uttered. Only a lone, purple tree with roots spread far and vast underneath the Earth's surface knew of what was to come.
On a particular morning, just as the sun was rising in the east, the tree's eyes glowed a bright green color as it uttered out a single phrase:
"It is time."
This new fanfic came from a theory I crafted. There's a whole video done about it, but I'll give a quick synopsis: The reason why your player is the only one that can save the CN universe from Fuse? The reason you obtain the Power of Destiny? The reason you become the Master Weapon? Because you're part of a prophecy. And that prophecy originated from a wish to the Magic Tree.
If you've read It Calls For You, you may recognize the similarities between Chapter 19 "Temple Run" and this chapter. This story and It Calls For You are in separate universes and I'm just reusing my ideas of how the Temple and its inhabitants worked, as well as expounding on my theory that we the player are important to FusionFall because of a wish (and that the Magic Tree is super important to FusionFall lore). Only Gaia, Magic Tree, and Aralia are non Hanna-Barbera property. The tribe from the north is in reference to a civilization existing in the Darklands (and according to some quests the civilization may still be existing there, we never learn more out of it). Since nothing was known about the Dark Tree, yet we know that it contained some sort of magical or divine power since it was strong enough to break the Master Weapon and a shard of Aku (who can only be hurt by divine power like Jack's katana, aka the sword gifted to him by three deities), I opted to make it a version of the Magic Tree.
I didn't get to show off all the people that existed in the ancient civilization, but that's because I didn't want to bombard the chapter with so many characters. In short, expect that the majority of characters from Hanna-Barbera's catalogue, but not all of them (obviously), are members of this ancient civilization. Geroge Jetson and Scooby Doo were removed from the totem because the Jetsons are in the future and Scooby Doo is in the present. Secret Squirrel and Huckleberry Hound were put in their place since Huckleberry is actually one of HB's oldest properties and Secret Squirrel seemed like a good inclusion.
Long before I started this story, I developed a map for the "ancient" world. Really it's just breaking up the Wilds into three sections: Prickly Pines Forest, Bedrock Desert, and Twisted Jungle. Everything that would fall in these three regions were part of the Hani-Baba territory. Mt. Magog is the name of what Mojo would later claim as Monkey Mountain. It wouldn't make sense to call it Monkey Mountain if there's no Mojo, so I scoured Hanna-Barbera's properties for a mountain with a volcano and found Valley of the Dinosaurs, which is why it's now Mt. Magog. Falls of the Protector is Forgotten Falls; I almost called it Reflection Falls and then decided against it. The reason it's called the Falls of the Protector is because it is honoring Aralia as their Te Xuan Ze.
Earth from the Twisted Jungle, Water from the Falls of the Protector, Fire from Mt. Magog, Wind from the Bedrock Desert, and Magic Tree's leaf at the Heart of the totems. I wonder what I could possibly be referencing here? *Wink, wink*
Thank you all for giving this story a chance. It's going to be shorter than my other FusionFall story, and that's because I'm only going to be focusing on a few story beats.
Cover image was done by RayO1. It's depicting the heroine of our story, who will be introduced in the following chapter.