Life For A Life

The Three Wishes

Crusher hissed as he climbed up the mountain leading the cave, where the magical All-Powerful Genie had been rumored to live.

He and Pickle had been at the park, having a picnic. While they were eating, they overheard Stripes talk about the All-Powerful Genie, living at a cave, on a mountain, in the Great Forest, that could grant three wishes. Excited and willing to get those wishes, he had rushed off to ask Swoops to give him a ride to the island leading to the Great Forest.

And now, here he was, climbing the mountain and almost about to fall if he wasn't careful.

But, he wasn't gonna wish for evil purposes. Not this time, at least.

"Come on..."

He reached out a tire towards the nearest rock and jumped. He yelped before sighing in relief as he managed to land in front of the cave.

"I made it..."

He took a deep breath and headed inside. His lightning marks glowed as he entered the dark cave. He drove deeper and deeper into it until he was met with a light from the end of the cave.

"Well... here goes everything..."

He entered the room where the light came from and gasped at what he saw.

It was a giant cave room with a giant, glowing fountain in the middle. The fountain released golden water while a giant statue figure with 6 arms stood and towered over it, allowing the water to flow down from it's arms. Crystals of different colors surrounded the rest of the cave as they glowed.

"Wow..."

"Welcome, young one," a voice from the statue spoke.

"Um... greetings, genie of this cave." Crusher gulped. "Are you the almighty one?"

"Indeed, I am," the voice spoke. "I grant all your greatest desire in wishes of three,"

"Hmm..." Crusher gave it a thought. 'Let me test this genie...' He took a deep breath. "If you really are the almighty genie, then grant me my first wish; I wish... for a giant trophy!"

"As you wish."

The fountain gave a glow, and suddenly, a trophy appeared in front of him, almost as tall as the fountain itself.

"Oh-ho, wow!" Crusher beamed.

"I have completed your test, now what do you truly wish for?" the voice asked.

Crusher glanced up at the statue. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the memories of the past returned to him...

Memory of screaming...

Memory of crying...

Of gun shots...

Of...

"HANNA!!"

The memories made Crusher wince, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Are you all right?"

Crusher snapped out of his thoughts to see the statue stare down at him with a sad expression. He sighed.

"No, I…" he took a deep breath. "I just realized what I've always been wanting to wish for…"

"Anything you want, young one, I will make real."

"I… I want my daughter back…" Crusher hissed. "I want her back… please…"

"Of course, but…"

"But...?"

"…but it requires a sacrifice of life," the voice told him. "I will need to pick a life to take in able to give life to the one you've lost to grant your wish,"

"Well... okay... as long as my daughter comes back, that's all I want."

"As you wish, young one."

The fountain gave a golden glow once more, and the statue's eyes gleamed red. After a while, the water suddenly turned red, seeping out of the fountain and in front of Crusher, who stepped back as the statue's magic glowed gold once more. The water piled up together and formed into a truck figure before a bright light shone.

When it ceased, there stood a young truck with bright green skin and blue lightning marks and pickle bumps with pure white eyes.

"H-Hanna...?" Crusher couldn't help but stammer as tears entered his eyes.

He had waited for this moment for so long...

And he couldn't believe that she was here.

The sound of her father's voice echoed through, and she turned to where she heard it. She reached out, signing;

["Pa-Pa?"]

"Yes, baby... it's me." Crusher felt himself began to tear as he approached the daughter he had lost, gently taking her by the tire before lifting her up to hug her. "I... I missed you so much..."

"You have one final wish, child. What will you make it to be?"

Crusher glanced up at the statue then back down at his daughter. He gently held her face, glancing at her milky white eyes as she smiled up at him, even when she didn't know where he was. He took a deep breath and stared back up at the statue.

"I wish for my daughter's disabilities to be healed. Please,"

"As you wish."

The fountain gave a green glow as Hanna was lifted from his tires. Crusher watched with hope as his daughter was dipped into the green water. After a few minutes, she was lifted out again and set down in front of him. He drove to her, helping her up.

"Honey? Do you feel okay?"

"Mmm…" a small, soft mumble came from her lips as she shut her eyes before looking up, revealing now coal black eyes. "P-Papa…?"

"Oh, Hanna... you're cured!" Crusher hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead.

"P-Papa!" Hanna gasped. "Me can speak! Me can see Papa!"

"Oh, genie, thank you!" Crusher beamed. "But... it does make me wonder... who's life did I take...?"

"You will know soon enough…"

The voice spoke as the fountain water glowed back to normal. Crusher was confused, but before he could ask, Hanna's stomach suddenly grumbled.

"I'm hungry, Papa."

"Right," Crusher nodded and glanced around. "Okay, uh, Papa's gonna let down here, so I can find some food since if we go to the house, you're gonna be starving by then," He set the girl down and smiled. "I'll be back. Stay here, okay?"

"Okay, Papa," Hanna nodded and smiled.

Crusher smiled and turned to the statue. "It's not a wish, but… can you keep an eye on her while I find some food, genie?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," Crusher smiled and gave a kiss on his daughter's forehead before driving off.