Fusion and Iron

For The Reader (Updated)

Approximately 12 years ago, a little 8 year old me was first introduced to one of only two mmo games on the internet I knew about. I booted up my 3 frames per second family shared desktop just to get to see this little known game called 'Fusionfall'. At first, I was immediately hypnotized by the amount of advertising on the cartoon network game website like it was the best game on planet earth:

'The most ambitious cartoon network crossover!'

'Online rpg with your favorite characters!'

'Free to play now!'

The first time I booted up the game, I was in a world of fun. I got to create my own character and jump right into a game which was filled with such incredible characters. I loved having little nanos, looking up secret codes just to unlock limited ones and getting to earn a collection of tiny little buddies who would help me out fight the bad guys. Sadly, after getting only to the Cul-de-sac, the computer was not strong enough to handle it. The frames were smooth, up until pokey oaks and then things began to go down south. Even as I only got to play it a number of times, the little kid me enjoyed getting to meet all of the famous characters from the shows I used to watch. I fought alongside Samurai Jack, worked with Numbuh Two with his missions and helped Wilt defend the fort from dangerous foes.

2012 was the last year I ever got to play that game.

I don't know what it was, but throughout my entire middle school and high school career, I kept thinking about that game. It was a faint memory in the back of my mind, a video that played over and over again whenever I saw the new cartoons like Regular Show and Teen Titans and thought: there would never be something like it ever again.

Cut to December of 2016. On social media, a team of independent developers announced that they were creating something new: Fusionfall Retro, a dedication to the old game and an ambitious fan project called Fusionfall Legacy. A launcher was given to the public to help run their game and test their open servers. 14 year old me thought it was a fever dream.

The moment it was launched I booted up my computer and launched the game, quickly watching the download run 10x faster than the first one. I remember my heart racing and the vivid chase to start my first playthrough. I named my character 'Niles Chaos Arachne'. I don't know why I did, I guess I just thought it was wacky and cool. The intro was OG, the game dedicated to the usual story like it started although without the academy server.

For the first time in a really long time, I got to experience a throwback and deeply grind through the game at heart. I got to meet people in the community, see new areas I didn't get to and make an honest attempt at trying to complete the game.
Istarted practicing drawing digitally and drew a terrible version of this character, inspired by the blossom dynamo set you get from completing the guide missions. His name was Niles, a superhero who worked with Dexter and Blossom as a soldier during the fusionfall fight. He had funny catchphrases, serious dedication and always helped a soldier in need (even if he didn't want to).
Due to how busy my life got around senior year, I only got to level 24. The grinding missions were starting to get to me, and nanos from that point on felt like a badge collection. Still, I got to dress up my character and make him into something incredibly cool.

Later on afterwards, I heard that Cartoon Network requested the fan group to demolish the game before legal action was taken. It broke my heart to see a childhood game of mine be revived and then nearly immediately ceased. I didn't know what to think of the network as a whole, contemplating what I was going to do with myself.

During that year, I started a rough draft of a fan fiction loosely titled 'Back to the Past', not only as a double reference to Back to the Future but also the main plot of the game. It followed a similar story premise and a passionate but terrible set of writing on my part. Due to how nonchalant and quick-moving between personal projects I was, from D&D campaigns to other short stories and inspirations, I ended up shedding it away.
Now, by this point, I have looked back on my life. I am currently twenty years old as I write this and have come to realize that this game has lingered in my head for too long. I no longer enjoy playing it thoroughly unless it's loosely a background game and I've recognized that I need to write this. I have to do this for little me and give him the best fan fiction of all time of his favorite mmo game just for him. then I can finally flip the page and begin a new chapter in my writing career within my life.

As a celebration for this passion, I have announced that I am open to any and all other fans who would want to have a cameo or a tiny part involved in this grand story. Most of you are older than me, others younger. It doesn't matter what age you are, movies and television move any individual at any age. I dedicate this fiction as a memorial to the game and a thank you to the developers who have made my life a little bit better just by getting to play their silly little game.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this deeply personal message and I sincerely hope you enjoy my project

Fusion and Iron.

-Nick

The cover art (posted on both FanFiction.net and Wattpad) was done by n1cdu in the FusionFall community. The logo was also done by valesofvoid in the FusionFall community. Both artists are great, and if you're looking for art and/or logos inspired by the game, I'd recommend them!

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Author's Note:
6/9/24
I am so happy to announce that this fic across the board has hit 1k reads! To everyone who has been a part of Niles' journey, thank you so much for your support! I hope you've enjoyed it, as I think I'm far from it being done. In the meantime, as a celebration for hitting this threshold, I will be working on a collection of one-shots that I initially intended to put in the fic but didn't. To everyone again: thank you so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy this fanfic. We're a good few paces away from completing it and if I reach 2k reads in total, I will be writing a second fanfiction for this series. Stay tuned!

9/30/24
Updated the FTR to the AO3 version. Hey, so on AO3 I updated my tags. I've posted this on AO3, FFN, and Wattpad for anyone to read just to let you know. Additionally, since this is the Wattpad version, I will be adding author's notes to all of the chapters in the future soon.