#Havoc in Heaven: Return of the Monkey King | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

acoraxia · 5 months

Text

(i wrote this while sick before going to the movies and then finished it after watching a movie so forgive me if it's incoherent or whateer im laying down)

do you ever think about how Azure Lion groomed Sun Wukong from a young age into being this perfect people to act as the poster child for the Brotherhood, abandoned him at his worst, was confident he could manipulate him into working for him again and then tried to do the same with Xiaotian and Xiaojiao upon first meeting them? And that, by association, he almost groomed Macaque and you can see how his manipulation affected Macaque even into adulthood when he first met Xiaotian?

No?

Azure Lion groomed Sun Wukong, tried to groom Qi Xiaotian (and Long Xiaojiao) and heavily affected Macaque's world view on Sun Wukong.

EDITOR'S NOTE:: grooming in this case does not mean anything sexual between the characters, grooming is a common trope in media and it's commonly seen as a power imbalance and manipulation tactic (see: when a father grooms his son to take over the company by inflicting him with his own ideals)

Azure Lion has a tendency to display Sun Wukong on this high pedestal and sound very confident in how he describes him. The very first thing he says in his debut is this:

“I'm flattered, truly, but if it were not for Sun Wukong bringing us together, right? Without you, none of this would be possible. Your courage to stand up to the Celestial Host has inspired us to finally take a stand. To make a true difference in the world. And I could think of none other more suitable to lead us on our conquest than you, brother.”

notice how throughout this episode sequence Azure is spoken about like he's the leader and right in every word he says. The other adults at the table (Peng, DBK and Yellow Tusk) smile and turn to him as though he's in the right. They hang on to his every word. something interesting is the fact Macaque and Sun Wukong are talked down to like they're the younger pair of the brotherhood — Peng's insults to Macaque, the way DBK asks SWK to repeat what happened during Havoc in Heaven—

heck even the way they laugh at Sun Wukong when he's being silly is a clear indicator that they see him as... silly.

It isn't until Azure Lion speaks up that they turn to him and start seeing Sun Wukong into a new light.

Not only that but the way that Azure talks to Sun Wukong raises several red flags. He looks at all his brothers the same way (e.g when he's helping Peng during a flashback in Episode 8) but it raises so many red flags when he looks at Wukong like this.

And Wukong hangs on to his every word.

Because Sun Wukong believes in what Azure Lion is saying to him. Everyone believes him in that moment. he sounds so confident in the way he says none of this would be possible without sun wukong. It's a way to manipulate him especially considering Sun Wukong was not the one to form the Brotherhood - Azure was. Azure decided to form this trio after seeing Sun Wukong for the first time according his own flashback:

And guess what? It works. Sun Wukong was minding his own business up until that point, the only thing he'd done (if the timeline matches up correctly) was become immortal and return to Flower Fruit Mountain to train his monkey army. In JTTW at this point he would've turned into a giant version of himself, scaring the other spirit kings into joining alliances with him just from witnessing that—instead we get Azure Lion believing him to be the perfect idol for his plan to come into fruition.

Fun Fact: Macaque is the only one who looks at Sun Wukong like this during Azure Lion's little speech about him and being the rightful leader of the brotherhood.

He seems more confused and shocked than the rest of them are. Mind you, he's known Sun Wukong longer than the rest of them have.

He hears Azure Lion, a veteran celestial warrior, praise his best friend and put him up on a pedestal and it confuses him. because his best friend is not like that. at least, he thinks so—but Azure sounds confident, right? he's speaking so confidently about this, so he must be right... right?

It will, eventually, lead to Macaque changing his view on Sun Wukong entirely. this is why we have shadowplay.

"That's what I believed. What Azure would have you believe."

Azure Lion affected not only Sun Wukong but Macaque in his manipulation — the timeline does not show us where Macaque went after his fall out with Wukong but the theory that he ran into the Camel Ridge Trio before fighting Wukong again works considering that line.

(Not only that but Macaque also tries to do this with Xiaotian: he introduces himself in a easily approachable way and trains him, takes him under his wing, then stomps on him the moment he stops being useful to him. he uses him to get to Sun Wukong. Xiaotian reminds Macaque of Sun Wukong and he uses similar tactics that Azure Lion used to get to Xiaotian — and it isn't until the Samadhi Fire Ritual that he realizes what he's done by being reminded of his and Wukong's fallout. He, a bystander, was also affected and influenced by Azure's manipulation.)

Additionally, Sun Wukong defends Azure Lion. He justifies attacking Heaven during Havoc in Heaven, he justifies the brotherhood's plan to go to war against Heaven—none of these plans are Sun Wukong's ideas. They are Azure's influence. In the original book, the reason why Wukong attacks Heaven in the first place is because they refuse to grant him the respect he wishes and thus Heaven is angry at him for dubbing himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. They ask the Jade Emperor to take care of Sun Wukong and he does—which, y'know, ends up with Wukong imprisoned afterwards. But in Monkie Kid it's all because of Azure's influence on Wukong.

Because he groomed him into being a faithful right hand man. And he is so confident in that that he gives these grand speeches and pep talks and says every perfect little line to make Sun Wukong want to follow him to Hell and back.

"When we triumph in this rebellion, the people will never live in fear. We're about to change everything. It's all because of you, brother!"

And, of course, he tries this on Xiaotian and Xiaojiao, too, when he first meets them.

When he presents himself to Xiaotian and Xiaojiao, he comes to their rescue. He already introduces himself as a savior and protagonist because he saves them from the scroll—even seemingly displaying himself as non-threatening because, while he laughs at them, he does so in a manner that's sincere and genuine. It's a goofy laugh. He's being goofy. He's playing to their good side.

It's the way he talks to them and laughs, introduces himself with such flamboyance and loudness that he mirrors Sun Wukong himself. He is such a direct influence to Sun Wukong that it carries throughout the few scenes we see of him that resemble what Sun Wukong has done with Xiaotian: the astral projection, the goofy displays of excitement, the sarcastic tones when talking about Tang, the way he greats his brothers when they are freed as old friends and all cheery and genuine.

He allows himself to be called uncy lion and romanticizes the past of the brotherhood while not elaborating on the fact he lead Sun Wukong and his brothers to a war while still blaming the aftermath and defeat of their party on Sun Wukong.

"Ah, well. The Sun Wukong isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. He has quite a habit of keeping people at arm's length. We were young, mistakes were made... and some mistakes can't be undone."

He speaks of him in a way to spark doubt between Xiaotian and Xiaojiao and it works in the way they react to what he says. They are disheartened and Xiaojiao even mentions, later, how Sun Wukong has had a habit of keeping things to himself. I wonder why that is.

" [...] If your friendship with Monkey King meant anything to you—" "It meant everything to me." [....] "We're brothers. Nothing could ever change that."

It's the way that Azure talks to them about Sun Wukong. It's the way he still thinks he is close enough to Sun Wukong to say that nothing will change their relationship. It's the way that he tries to plant these ideas into Xiaotian's head when they first meet, because he is the Monkie Kid.

That and the fact that later, when Sun Wukong is bursting through each and every memory, he reaches Xiaotian and goes to him and tries to comfort him and say they'll get to safety soon and they just have to deal with the scroll curse—it's the fact that the moment

that pigsy

mentions Azure Lion

all of that gets paused for a moment

"Oh he says his name like that because he put him in the scroll, he shouldn't be here—" there is also the fact he's not fully blown surprised by this. he's also wary. he's hesitant. sure you can say he's surprised to hear they've met Azure Lion,

but then you get this

this is hatred. this is anger. this is not what Sun Wukong feels towards Macaque during Season 3 — he lunged at Macaque for putting Xiaojiao in danger, for putting Xiaotian in danger, for ruining his plan, and he hesitates to attack him, to deliver that final blow, his fist is shaking and Tang's interuption easily causes him to lose focus and he drops Macaque. He lets go.

THIS? This is him protecting Xiaotian. this is him not wanting Xiaotian near Azure. Xiaotian looks at Azure with wide eyes and a gaping mouth because "oh Azure's here?" but Wukong knows better.

And you cannot tell me Sun Wukong was not heavily hurt by Azure Lion's actions without looking at the way that Sun Wukong puts himself between Azure and Xiaotian immediately, how Sun Wukong tries to be a better person by putting Xiaotian's safety first, always, even if it means he gets possessed or hurt or thrown around.

You cannot tell me Azure Lion wasn't a manipulator or abuser or a person who used Sun Wukong's admiration of him against him, to turn him into an obedient follower and devoted friend, when the very first thing he does when he sees Wukong step between him and Xiaotian is sigh.

Sighs like an older mentor looking at their pupil and going "didn't I teach you better than that?"

And then he imprisons Sun Wukong.

Because he is of no use to him at that moment.

And the fucking kicker: Xiaojiao modeled her new sword after Azure Lion, then is blatantly disgusted by this when she figures out how much of a bastard he is and openly says so. Xiaotian looks distraught and confused. Because Azure admits to being guilty of using them and manipulating them. He aims for sympathy with them.

He aims for sympathy with Xiaotian.

He twists the narrative again when he and Xiaotian are alone.

He's manipulating him. He's using him.

He keeps painting Sun Wukong in this negative light. he keeps putting himself up as the sympathetic victim of it all.

"My former brother was sent to destroy us and all we had built."

and yet he still talks about Wukong as though he has a grasp on their relationship. he calls him brother. he has not abandoned that title. he still thinks of Sun Wukong as his brother and will continue to use him and his name in whatever way possible to get ahead.

Maybe it is not on purpose and Azure thinks he is being true and genuine with Xiaotian but it does not erase the fact he twists the narrative to paint Sun Wukong in a negative light in front of his successor. Because Sun Wukong and Xiaotian have a strong relationship, a bond so strong that Qi Xiaotian bursts with power and strength when he realizes Azure will not give him back to him. It's precision and control and Qi Xiaotian could wreck havoc among everyone for keeping his mentor away from him but he is so controlled and careful with his movements that he manages to not attack Azure, but throw him off balance to get him to release Azure.

All because Sun Wukong is important to him.

Because Sun Wukong was not going to treat his successor as though he were a weapon or a pawn in some major scheme like he was.

Azure Lion showers people with praise that they do not deserve nor want and does so in a way that makes the party feel either delighted to have aided with his success or horrified at the revelation. He does so when Sun Wukong brings the brotherhood together (which wouldn't have happened if Azure Lion hadn't seen Sun Wukong with his subjects that one day) and he does so when Qi Xiaotian for returning his brothers to him (which he didn't know he was doing, because Azure Lion told him he needed to defeat the curse without mentioning his friends would be released too, at least from what I can remember).

"His betrayal, his brutality. He took the only friends I had from me. I would have done anything in my power to bring them back. But it wasn't in my power, it was in yours. You saved my friends. You returned them to me. And for that, I am eternally grateful."

This is similar to what he says to Sun Wukong when he was thanking him for bringing the brotherhood together.

And then, what happens when all this manipulating and tricking does not work? When Qi Xiaotian teams up with Sun Wukong instead of siding with Azure Lion?

"After all Sun Wukong has put you through, how much he's let you down, you would still meet your fate trying to protect him?! (...) He doesn't deserve such loyalty, yet you insist on learning the hard way, just as I did! I should've never trusted the Monkey King! The False Sage, Equal to Nothing!"

He fucking insults Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong who rushes in to protect Xiaotian, who shoves Azure Lion out of the way, and checks on Qi Xiaotian when he glitches out and starst to lose control of his powers.

And when he's losing against Xiaotian? When he struggles to keep up with him?

"Look what he's done to you! Reduced you to a mindless, savage animal."

Again, Macaque's obsession over Sun Wukong makes sense now. His obsession is a result of Azure Lion's doing. His obsession is what Qi Xiaotian could have been had he not known Sun Wukong for who he really is: his mentor and friend.

What gets to me is what Xiaotian says to him when he's losing:

"That's what you were pretending to be, right? To be my friend? To care about me? When really, you were just using me to get what you wanted! To turn me against my own mentor! Well, put your hand in the monkey cage and expect to get bit, son! Come on! Come on! Come on, Uncy Lion! You're the big hero, right?! Then prove it! Show me!"

It's a perfect way of snapping back at Azure for all his manipulation.

And then Azure dies.

He learns he's being manipulated for someone else. He cries and smiles and dies.

What for?

He doesn't save anybody.

He doesn't suffer consequences of manipulating people. He doesn't do anything heroic and he doesn't even save the world by sacrificing himself because Nezha is the one who seals away the Jade Emperor's powers in the end.

He's a natural manipulator.

He's not a hero.

he's a loser

#analysis #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #azure lion #lmk azure lion #lego monkie kid azure lion #ok idk how else to tag this lmao #its over 2k #i am so fucking tired #anyways #how are you guys?#me? im tried as FUCK

434 notes · View notes

quitealotofsodapop · 3 months

Note

So sonce Wukong is heavily associated with he earth and especially FFM, what if the mountain itself changes to fit Wukong's emotional and physical health? Like when he's sad, depressed, or hopeless it becomes more barren and cold, when he's hurt the earth itself cracks and plants wither and die, whe he's happy it's lush, warm, and beautiful like depicted in the show! It doesn't instantly change of course but slowly, the longer the time Wukong is in a certain mood, the more it affects the mountain. That'd also why the monkeys, who have EVERY reason to be distrustful of a stranger on the mountain considering literally everything in the book, are so quick to warm up to and welcome MK and his family into their midst! Because they make Wukong happy!

Ooo this is such a cool idea.

Wukong being basically the Te Fiti of Flower Fruit Mountain and the surrrounding country of Alolai.

When he ws young and unsure, the islands bloomed with new haphazard shoots and flowers.

When he jumped through the waterfall the first time, the rains came and watered the parched fruit trees.

When he travelled onto the mainland and trained with Sudbodhi, the air became heavy with the winds of his travels - A certain Macaque amongst the troop able to hear where exactly their King was based on how he sang to the breeze. Soon the skies became full of fluffy clouds so thick you could nearly walk (or rather Sommersault on them). It was one of the few joys his people appriciated whilst under the threat of the Demon King of Havoc/Confusion.

The night before the King returned, a great thunder rain occurred - startling all of them awake. A thunder of sadness and anger. But when their King landed home and cut the Demon's head in half with his new powers - the sun shined upon the island once more.

When the Brotherhood was made and friendships forged, the mountain bloomed with new life. Spider lilies flourished in the time the King had been whisked away to the Underworld, and lotus flowers sprang forth upon his return.

When their king lost himself as an attendant of Heaven, the waters in the streams became stale like a horse through, and fruits shrivelled on the branches like they had been dried for a dessert.

Oddly enough, when their King made havoc in Heaven; the most that the mountain experienced was a sudden unseasonable bloom of peach blossoms that dripped a heady dew.

When Sun Wukong was defeated and captured for the Furnance... the mountain Burned.

For 49 days straight.

They at first blamed the war god Erlang that had bested their King in the first place, but he and the rest of the brothers of Meishan rallied to save as many monkey yao as possible from the flames and the subsequent floods of murky ash.

When the Monkey King burst forth from the Trigram Furnace, it sent a volley of burning charcoal comets down to earth. Including onto the Stone Place itself.

And when the Buddha was forced to raise his hand? The island stagnanted.

For 500 years the razed island could not grow more than grass and ferns. No more fruits or flowers bloomed. The water was bitter and black with charcoal. And whats more, humans from the mainland beyond had discovered that the country of Alolai was ripe for the picking...

When their King returned once more at the helm of a fight with his religious master, the island rained for the first time in centuries. As he struck down each and every hunter he found, and saved and returned as many as his people as he could, the island seemed to Revive with the scent of blossoms and peaches.

When he left to rejoin his Pilgrim friends, the fruits and flowers still came, now just less sweet.

His subjects knew immediately knew when something terrible had happened with their King years on. The winds stopped blowing as if a switch had been struck. Stone fruit trees crumbled into dust as if they were diseased. The waters of the streams became salted as if with tears... it took a long time for the island to return to some normalcy after that. Though the plum trees never returned, no matter how ardent the efforts of those who keep mountains orchards.

A great bloom of golden flowers and fruits occurred the day their King had reached the home of the Buddha. The rush of life announced via a clap of thunder. The monkeys of the island hooted and sung for weeks at their King's return.

Many years later, fire broke out on the mountain's peak. Their King returned home with a haunted look upon his face but gave no explaination. They began to see less and less of the Western Horse-Dragon after that day... soon the fruits and waters became stale once more. The only flowers that bloomed were ones of mourning.

On a day, after many of arficially sweetened waters adn fruits, a great aurora of golden and purple lights broke forth in the skies above the island - distracting the King's subject long enough that they missed his wonder and conflict at finding a little stone monkey much like himself. The clouds rained heavy with seawater in the days to come.

And on the day a certain child appeared, the sun shone a hue so beautiful and happy that the subjects of the island just knew someone dear to the King had returned.

The plum trees returned some time afterwards, though the fruits were a little sour. They became sweet once more in the year after.

#lmk theories #island deity swk au #jttw theories #sun wukong #lmk #lego monkie kid #this accidentally got a bit away from me cus I love the concept of emotion based enviromental storytelling

74 notes · View notes

jedineedlove · 6 months

Text

LMK VS Legend

Peng:

The Golden Winged Peng

Korean- King of Bungma (Bungma= Dapeng)

LMK:

Powerful but a coward, we all know their story along with Azure and Tusk. All of them were former Celestials. The three ruled over Camel Ridge and became sworn brothers to Monkey King, Macaque, and Demon Bull King forming the brotherhood. After the "betrayal" of Monkey King they separated the brotherhood the trio stayed together and reunited with Wukong but only to battle and lose. Trapped in the scroll for hundreds of years. Were realized causing havoc to the cosmos. The rest is history For Now.

JTTW:

A demon born from the Primordial Phoenix, Given a high position in heaven which gave him his ego. He gave himself a humanoid form ate all the residence of the Lion Camel Kingdom ruled it for 500 years and then befriended the Azure Lion and Yellow-Toothed Elephant Demons.

Note: LMK and JTTW had Peng and Azure Switched In JTTW Peng was the leader and Azure the follower. Which of course is switched in the show.

His weapons are a ji and a Flask of Yin and Yang Essence which can suck in unsuspecting victims.

Flask of Yin and Yang Essence: After a while, the victim trapped inside the flask will be reduced to a bloody mash. (The flask was broken during the fight between him and Wukong)

In the book, it was the Buddha who subdued the Peng and returned him to Vulture Peak. He confessed to enjoying his demonic life and eating humans., but was left no choice but to abandon his evil ways and he was redeemed. He then became a protector of Buddhist law. He was later sent to destroy fake scripture without text by the Buddha. He is depicted perched above the Buddha's thrown as a guardian deity.

The Ming dynasty suggests Peng was a guardian of faith who watched over the world from an exalted position at the top of the Buddhas' throne.

Legend:

Dapeng Jinchi Mingwang/ Golden-Winged Great Peng His origins are derived from the Indian bird god Garuda.

Penig is one of the eight demi gods of Buddhism, he guards Mount Sumeru and Trāyastriṃśa. Pengi is depicted in the JTTW and General Yue Fei, mentioned in Chinese Buddhist literature.

The famous patriot General Yue Fei was believed to be the incarnation of Dapeng Jinchi Mingwang.

A demonic Peng born from The Primordial Phoenix the leader of flying beings. He also has a sister The Peacock Mahamayuri who once tried and failed to consume the Buddha. When he tried to kill her he was stopped and convinced to promote her to his godmother. Which makes the Golden Winged Peng the spiritual uncle of the Buddha. There is a tale of when Nü Tofu the bat spirit listened to the Buddha sermon on the Lotus Sutra at Leiyin temple. The bat spirit accidentally "broke wind" which stained the pure land. Peng snatched the spirit and killed her. For this Buddha exiled Peng to earth. He reincarnated as Yue Fei and the bat spirit reincarnated as Lady Wang. She married Qin Hui and Lady Wang killed Yue Fei in revenge.

For Backstory On These Two: Qui Hui and Lady Wang were the most hated couple in China for a thousand years. Qui Hui was a politician who gained his status by getting rid of political opponents, framing war heroes and was a sycophant to a foreign emperor. He and his wife both conspired to kill the Great War Hero of the Dynasty Yue Fei. He even becomes a puppet ruler. Qui Hui did not like Yue Fei because he was a great guy loved by all and became very popular even being more popular than the emperor. So Qui Hui had him returned and imprisoned. They torture Yue, but Yue Fei refuses to confess to something he did not do. They had him sentenced to death but in another story, Qui Hui's Wife Lady Wang poisoned Yue Fei. However, Yue Feis' story does not end at his death after a few decades Emperor Zhao Chen absolved Yue Fei and dedicated temples to him. Qui Hui and Lady Wang's betrayal and part in the war heroes' death were made public. In front of Yue Fei's temple, two iron statues of the couple were built for public shaming. People spit, abuse, and flop the statues and they get replaced when damaged they have been replaced 11 times since 1475.

Other Ledgends:

According to the martial arts master Laing Shouyu's book he was a great bird that was the guardian that could get rid of all evil in any area. Not even the MONKEY KING was a match. He was sent to China to defend China from invaders and was reborn as Yue Fei.

Yue Fei

The Shurangama Mantra: A mantra of Buddhist practice in China, Japan, and Korea, pertains to the Great golden-winged Peng bird, the Garuda it includes all species of birds. The Peng is the king among birds. He feasts on dragons, his being span measures an astounding 4,950 km, and when he flaps his wings the sea waters part to the deepest seabed.

Thoughts:

Peng's history and legends paint him as a far more powerful being than we have seen so far in the show if the writers do take anything from legends MK and the gang are in some serious trouble besides the ten kings. Also, it really is crazy that maybe even in the LMK universe Peng might have some serious power he was the last standing of the Sworn brothers in the final fight but that was mainly due to him running away. Peng does get redemption in the book with the LMK writers it's a 50/50 on the show. Also, love it when a character has a historical reincarnation to do some digging into.

#jttw #lmk #lego monkie kid #fan thoughts #journey to the west #lmk peng #research #ledgends #history #chinese mythology

64 notes · View notes

mysticmonkiebusiness · 11 months

Photo

ISSUE 69 BLOCKS MAGAZINE PAGE 35 + 36

[ID 1: Two magazine pages. The first shows several pieces of digitally painted concept art of; MK, a roughed-up couch, a game controller, a polaroid of an early design of Mei, and another polaroid of Monkey King from the film “Havoc in Heaven”. Below it is an image of a LEGO designer referencing a piece of concept art, one of MK flying on a hoverboard, to design MK’s minifigure, which is being drawn on his tablet. ]

[ID 2: On the left, between the text, minifigures of MK, Mei, Sandy, Pigsy, and Monkey King descend vertically. On the right is an ink sketch of Monkey King, who wears a crescent fillet and has a large forehead. He sits atop his cloud, below him is an early version of MK, who has a skateboard, spiky black hair, and a shirt with a star on it. Next to this image is a digital painting of Monkey King, who closely resembles his minifigure but has a full cape and golden sleeves. Under this is a picture of Monkey King’s minifigure, who stands on a LEGO cloud and wields his staff.]

Transcript:

The Characters

MK Monkie Kid, the theme's titular character, Is chosen by the Monkey King to be his successor and defend against the Demon Bull. He's a brand new character in the story.

ΜΕΙ Mei is part of the Dragon Family, a descendant of the legendary White Dragon Horse, which the monk Tang Sanzang rode down the Silk Road on his epic pilgrimage to India and Central Asia.

SANDY Once a soldier, Sandy is now a relaxed, tea drinking nature lover. He's based on the character of Sha Wujing. the most kind-hearted, loyal and logical of Tang Sanzang's three disciples.

PIGSY Head Chef of Pigsy's Noodle Shop, the character takes a great deal of pride in his kitchen. He's based on Zhu Bajie, a part-human, part-pig monster who embodies the sins of sloth, gluttony and lust in the original story.

MONKEY KING After vanishing centuries earlier on a magical cloud, Monkey King is back to train the Monkie Kid. He's based on Sun Wukong, who like Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie was forced to accompany Tang Sanzang on his quest by the goddess of mercy.

Developing Monkie Kid

It wasn't just name recognition that the Monkey King story enjoyed: it was also ripe for a LEGO adaptation. 'I knew something about the Monkey King and Journey to the West because key beats from that story have been reinterpreted in Hollywood so many times,' Simon says. 'When we were discussing retelling it, we were just listing out the big, iconic aspects.'

The biggest of all is of course the Monkey King himself. 'The Monkey King is such an amazing superhero because he can transform himself into so many different things. He can fly on a magic cloud, he's slightly cheeky, he slightly breaks the rules and he's not perfect. He's got that likable character; he's not the typical square-jawed hero that's just going to save the day.

'The team in China started saying, 'There's the Bull Demon and he has a wife that has this huge fan that creates tornadoes, and a son who can control fire, then all the other demons like the Spider Queen...' You just think wow, these demons are awesome and we can bring them to life in brand new ways.'

That early meeting set so much direction for the theme - not just for the villains, but also for the title. As with all great moments of invention, though, no one person can claim the credit. 'I wish I could remember who it was, but somebody said, 'It's the next generation of the Monkey King and he's just a boy,' and somebody said, 'The Monkie Kid.' That was the spark moment.'

Testing proved that children could identify with the Monkie Kid, or MK as he is also known, seeing the possibility that they could be the Chosen One.

Returning to Billund in September 2018, it was time to present the concept. 'We had a 'portfolio gate' as we call it at LEGO, which is where the senior team meets and we have to pitch what we have been working on, and get their approval to move forward. Everyone was like, 'Wow!' and the China team supported it 1000% - they gave us the green light to move forward and we went into the full development phase of sculpting new characters and building models.'

"HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE WE AREN'T JUST SPRINKLING A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURAL DUST ON TOP?"

#LEGO Monkie Kid #lmk mk #qi xiaotian #mei monkie kid #long xiaojiao #sandy monkie kid #sha dali #pigsy monkie kid #zhu da chu #monkey king #concept art #blocks magazine #mmb.png

66 notes · View notes

imminent-danger-came · 7 months

Note

Hello! Unhinged Anon back again (I say as though I ever left and haven’t just been lurking) teetering on the precipice of madness, as per usual, this time because of S2E0!

Specifically, MK stealing the trigram furnace in S2E0. Specifically specifically, MK being the only member of the gang sent off to steal something SWK hadn’t stolen in the past, and also being the ONLY member of the crew who promises to return what he stole. And then he doesn’t. And considering his reaction to seeing it in S2E5, I think the implication is that he never even tried because he genuinely forgot about it. Because he was focused on saving and protecting people. And because he doesn’t return it, LBD gets it. And because she gets it, she’s able to start making the mech. And because she’s able to start making the mech, a whole bunch of stuff happens that hurts the same people he was originally trying to protect when he stole the furnace in the first place, plus who knows how many more.

…

*Smiling blankly as I use a stick to draw the words ‘to pain’ in the dirt over and over like I’m in The Shining*

Seriously, there is so much about that one moment of MK running off with the furnace that is just… so evil of them to do. I mean, MK separating from his friends and going off alone to steal from the celestial realm is bad enough. But making him the only one to do what Wukong did in the past with something new? Having him be the only one who’s chased by a creature of heaven, not a spider, because he’s seemingly the only one who caused a noticeable disturbance? Having it be ‘just like Wukong’, but also his own, unique crime against the realm? And having it happen literal seconds after his pep talk with the reflection inside the furnace? Really?! WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY?!?!

Also! I saw a previous ask where you were talking about the first time SWK uses MK’s name being in S3E14 when he apologizes, but there's actually a moment before that in S2E0! However, it is not nearly as memorable a scene lol. It’s when they’re flying towards the city together on SWK’s cloud and MK starts clinging to him because he’s freaking out about all the spiders. I think the exact line was literally just ‘Get off, MK!’ lol. Still, the fact that he’s using MK’s name by that point certainly says something about their relationship and how it’s grown. Plus it makes Wukong leaving the literal next episode all the more painful! Hurray for the LEGO show continuing to be cruel! Anyways, hope you’re having a nice day/night!

*waves from the precipice of madness*

*me cheering at the Lego show continuing to be cruel*

Anyways hello Unhinged Anon! A pleasure, as always.

So, something something "The chaos and destruction we'll bring upon the world will make Wukong's past look like nothing" something something in regards to him stealing something that Wukong hadn't. Students usually surpass their masters in narratives like these, but erm, you know. You obviously don't want to surpass your master when it comes to the chaos and destruction and havoc they caused.

It's also always funny to me that in the trigram furnace he gained the power of "self-reflection", but in typical MK fashion he forgets to use that power (but don't worry the curse shows up in 4x07 to do it for him).

However, and the clown wig is totally on tight, here's the thing about the "Get off, MK!" scene. That scene has been paralleled several times:

So we have a scene where MK get's thrown off by Monkey King, we have a scene where MK and SWK both get thrown off by the cloud dissipating, and then we have a scene where Wukong catches MK after he was thrown.

This is how scene #1 plays out in particular:

Sun Wukong: "Get off MK!" MK: "Wait, what are you?" Sun Wukong: "*exasperated sigh* If you can't handle a little spider, how are you meant to help me with that? I'll handle this one bud, you just hang tight." MK: "Wait! I can still- ...help."

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

Which also parallels a scene from 3x09:

Sun Wukong: "Just wait for me there! I'll explain everything." MK: "But- but I can help! Let me help you!" Sun Wukong: "There's no time bud! Macaque could show up at any second! GO!"

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

SO, it's about Wukong's overconfidence and how that collides with MK's low self-confidence at high speeds. It's also about how their relationship has grown over the coarse of the show, with Wukong actively relying on MK during TEW special.

And I think you're totally right, it says a lot about their relationship in ROTSQ and shows how much SWK failed at not getting attached to MK in s1 lol. And then he left in 2x01 for MK, and you just gotta love those two.

#omg my ask box is clear!!!!#yay!!!!!#there are a couple of asks that are gonna be longer metas in my drafts but shhhhhh we're not talking about them #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk parallels #asks #unhinged anon #the light is no mystery

35 notes · View notes

floral-moon-light · 4 months

Text

Board me strikes again in the form of another story idea after listening to the song "Stronger Then My Storm" by Citizen Soldier on repeat for ages while just being in a monkey king mood.

In particular, what if Wukong didn't go on the journey to the west, what if he was never freed from the mountain he was trapped under till a few years before the LMK show's Mk appeared, what if spending that long being stuck trapped with the weight of a mountain on his back and only occasionally getting "food" in the form of molten or red hot metal left it's mark on Wukong's body.

Note, if you like the idea after reading the basics I set up feel free to use it, all I ask is to link it to me later! I want to read other people's interpretation!

So, the way I am playing this is that Wukong got imprisoned under the mountain for the same reason as in the original tale (though it isn't yet shown why he was put under the mountain in the show, it is somewhat implied that it might have been his punishment for defying heaven and trying to take over with his brotherhood because there are no indications so far that the imprisonment under the mountain was related to the celestial horse stampede or the massive party crash and subsequent defeating of the celestial army... Twice if you include the havoc he caused after escaping the furnace... That in the original tale gets the Buddha called on him and leads to his subsequent imprisonment. Wukong had to have been punished for his and the groups attack on Heaven and we do not know when in the timeline this event falls, so all we can assume as of now is that the mountain was his punishment). However, instead of getting freed after 500 years to go on the Journey to the West, the Jade Emperor decided Wukong was too dangerous to be re-release into the world despite Guanyin's promise that she would give the Buddhist monk Tripitaka a method to keep the celestial monkey in check. Instead, the Jade Emperor "threatens" the Six-Eared Macaque, who at this point knows Wukong was trapped under the mountain (for how long, no clue, we don't get any tells when in the timeline Mac visited Wukong, so I'm going to say within the first 100 years) and had taken to being the Macaque King of Flower fruit mountain since he figured Wukong would never return, into being a member of the Journey to the West after basically getting a contract from the Emperor that at no time during his time away from his island may the Celestial army or any of its soldiers or denizens of the celestial realm invade and destroy their island in retaliation for Wukong's "crimes" and once the journey is complete this will remain in place since all crimes will have been paid for.

As such, Wukong never met Ao Lie, Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie, or Tang Sanzang and history would only know Wukong as the first king of Flower Fruit Mountain/the Monkey King due to the tales passed down of his journey for immortality and his subsequent imprisonment when he goes to far, using him mainly as a message for never letting yourself become so engrossed in your plans for the future that you stop seeing the harm your actions cause in the present. This also means that none of the deaths or imprisonment that would happen in the original tale/the demons and immortals that Wukong met along the way would know him or have happened. We would have to assume Mac helped imprison Lady Bone Deamon as well as extract the Sumadi Fire from Red Son and that whatever caused D.B.K.'s rampage (which I believe is somewhat implied to be LBD), at what I am currently assuming was just after the Journey to the West, never happened.

However, despite the winds of fate having shifted so far off course, the world will always try to align it's self with the intended path of history. As such, Tang (who I am imagining as more of an archaeologist instead of a pure historical scholar like he is in the show) would still be obsessed with the Journy to the West and the tales relating to it, particularly with the tales of the First King of Flower Fruit Mountin. As such, he takes many a trip out to find historical ruins and sights to try and find remnants of forgotten tales about this long lost King. As such, roughly 3 years before MK would be found in front of Pigzy's shop, Tang would find the the mountain range Wukong was trapped under and unintentionally find his was down into his imprisonment chamber, where he would find the comatose King still taped with roughly 260 billion (this is only an estimate of what Quora says an average mountain weighs) tons of mountain on top of him, with the magic spells keeping him locked up weakened (because time will affect anything, including magic as shown in the show), but still active. Upon seeing this and recognising who this must be Tang would rush to the nearest town, get some stone breaking supplies, rush back to the mounting and climb the mountain to remove the seal that was told in legend to be keeping the king trapped under the mountain. Tang would then go back down into the cavern of Wukong's imprisonment and spend many days slowly chiseling the comatose former King out of the mountain. After which he would take wukong to his vehicle and bring him back to Megapolis and checking the king into a hospital under the guise of being just a plain old Demon Monkey who he doesn't know the name of, since revealing Wukong as the lost king could end horribly for the injured and comatose King.

Wukong would spend a year within this hospital (with all bills being paid for by a donation fund set up for demons who have not registered or no not wish to register into modern-day identification systems that is funded by wealthy deamon families that want to help their fellow demons in this modern age) in a coma, eventually waking up after many centuries of unconsciousness. After which he has to learn how to speak, write, and walk again after many months of therapy learning during this time through talks with his savior, talks with the doctors, and self examination the true gravity of his current situation.

That being that he was isolated from the world for over 1000 years (having been in a coma for what the monkey can only guess is 500 years of that time span or so) and is now in a world completely different from the one he knew, he is now an enigma of history only really known for his cautionary tale, his throat and stomach had been heavily damaged from the centuries of being forced to eat molten metal leaving his voice quiet and gravely and his stomach paralyzed (though the doctors suspect over time it may heal), that so long with so much weight on his lower back has left him a paraplegic (with odds of him ever fully recovering being low by the doctors examinations), and that most if not all of his Chi (magic? mana? energy? who knows, the show never properly names this internal energy source) is blocked off and it could take year's for him to reopen all the ley lines in his body to use more high-intensity incantations and auras again for battle, if he can ever fight again.

During his time in the hospital, and then in hospice as he regains his strength, Wukong and Tang become friends, and Tang (after a chat with Pigzy who the partially broke archaeologists is living with) invites Wukong, who decided to hide himself in this new day and age under his old name "Shí Hóu", to come live with them. There are some minor issues in the beginning for the three due to needing to figure out how to work with a house member in a wheelchair the majority of the time, but they all make it work eventually and after a while Wukong finds a job in the animation industry and adds another income to the apartment dwelling household. Eventually MK joins the three after a appearing at Pigzy's shop and Wukong essentially becomes the babysitter of the group, what with having the least dangerous and most easily able to multitask job.

Thanks to MK Wukong meets Redson for the first time after a 6 year old MK runs off while Wukong and him are at a coffee shop and Redson, being much more kind-hearted due to not losing his father, helps Wukong out after the monkey man manages to either lose or fall out of his whealchair. And Red son, now curious about the monkey who somewhat reminds him of the Sun Wukong from his father's old tales starts to insert himself into Wukong's life. Leading to Red basically ending up as MK's big brother figure and leading to MK becoming friends with Mei due to Red and his family having connections with other mystical families like those of the dragon from the journey to the west. This could lead to DBK and Wukong meeting again early on, or much later then in the show depending on how you want to spin it, however I would do it as they meet earlier, but DBK does not know Shí Hóu is Wukong until much later. Though Wukong would know and be somewhat depressed thinking he lost his last brother to time because revealing himself could lead to DBK denouncing him (not that DBK would).

How the original show would progress from there would depend on the writer's interpretation, but I would still have Monkey king teach MK to fight and such, but with MK being more patient and understanding of not being able to get into intense battle-type things due to Wukong being a paraplegic. And without any Mac interference, because he thinks Wukong is still in prison, and would at most think "huh... This kid strangely has a lot of Wukong's powers and skills. Weird, but oh well."

#lego monkie kid #lmk sun wukong #sun wokung #lmk tang #lmk red son #lmk pigsy #lmk mk #lmk mei #lmk fanfiction #lmk fandom

11 notes · View notes

centuryberry · 11 months

Text

@peachshadows / @terrible-leviathan Finally, we look at the other side of things as the Canon Counterparts panic over MK and A-Dan's disappearance.

When Wukong and Macaque returned to Flower Fruit Mountain from their date, MK and A-Dan were already gone. Not that they realized it immediately. Their A-Dan adored playing pranks and games, so they thought that she had dragged MK into her recent scheme and hid.

But then, Wukong couldn’t find them. Not even with his golden eyes. No matter how loudly they called or how many times they combed through the mountain, MK and A-Dan remained gone. That was when the concern and anxiety began to set in.

They made calls to their friends. Surely, there was some sort of emergency in Pigsy’s Noodles that made MK leave with A-Dan. Surely, Mei dragged MK and A-Dan into some spontaneous kind of fun. Surely, Red Son tried to reignite his old rivalry with MK and accidentally dragged A-Dan into it. Surely -

But no. No one saw or heard from MK ever since he left to Flower Fruit Mountain to babysit A-Dan. No, he wasn’t answering his phone.

A kidnapping, then. Wukong and Macaque knew that something like this would happen. A-Dan was the daughter of the Monkey King and the Six-Eared Macaque, after all. They both had a fair number of enemies who were the sort to try to take the child of the most dangerous beings in the Three Realms. They just didn’t realize that it would happen within the boundaries of Flower Fruit Mountain.

Pigsy, Tang, and Sandy looked around the city, asking around for MK in his usual noodle-delivering routes. Mei and Red Son joined forces and turned to technology, flipping through all the cameras in hopes of finding any clues of MK and A-Dan’s whereabouts.

Macaque turned to the underbellies of Demon Cities, shaking it down for answers and keeping his ears out for the familiar heartbeats of his cub and his student.

Wukong turned to Heaven. He broke into the Celestial world and upended the entire realm, including the Jade Palace. It was the reenactment of the havoc he caused in his youth except his aim wasn’t the throne or to cause mischief - it was to find his children. He was actually in the middle of threatening the Jade Emperor himself when a familiar voice called out for him to stop.

“Wait! Waitwaitwaitwait! Stop! I’m here! Monkey King, I’m here!”

Wukong froze and slowly turned to where the Trigram Furnace sat. After the Lady Bone Demon’s defeat, it had been safely returned. MK’s frantic face stared back at him.

“…MK!?” Wukong turned back to the Jade Emperor with a snarl. “So you did have them! Release him and give my daughter back!”

“Monkey King, NO!”

It took some coaxing and pleading, but MK(?) managed to calm Wukong down enough to get him to release the Jade Emperor and listen. The reflection explained the situation as best he could.

“So, you’re not MK,” Wukong concluded.

“Not really? I mean, I am a MK, but I’m not yours. Think of me as a possibility that never came to be,” the reflection suggested with a shrug. “To be honest, the only reason why I exist is because of MK. Think of me as a clone except…more. Your MK isn’t in this world anymore. He slipped between the cracks and ended up in a completely different dimension. But he’s trying his best to come back. He needs your help.”

The reflection proceeded to give Wukong the outline of what happened to his cub and his student. It was a fantastical tale of multiple worlds that spanned beyond the three realms born of different paths, choices, and possibilities.

Wukong didn’t have time for disbelief. MK and A-Dan were nowhere to be found. So, when the reflection was finished, Wukong only asked one thing: “How do we get them home?”

All too eager to get the Monkey King out of his hair, the Jade Emperor let Wukong “borrow” the furnace and gave him all the other required items that the reflection listed before hastily shooing him away from the Celestial Realm.

“A-A-Alternate realities?!” Tang all but salivated at the idea of it when Wukong explained it to everyone. Of course, his scholarly excitement was immediately cooled when he realized what that meant for MK and A-Dan. “There’s a way to get them back, right?”

“Yeah, there’s a way,” Wukong assured all of them. “The hard part’s getting them back home without a fight.”

“If we need to fight to get them home, we’ll fight,” Pigsy spoke up fervently. Mei nodded enthusiastically in the background, already unsheathing her sword.

Wukong felt his mate at his back. His mate was shaking. “They have A-Dan. They have our little girl.”

“And we’ll get her back,” Wukong swore as he turned around to gather Macaque up in his arms. But his mate wasn’t distraught like he had originally thought. He was enraged. He was ready to rip someone’s throat out. Wukong held him tighter. “We’ll get them both back. I promise.”

The ritual was simple. With the help of the furnace and with Tang’s power, they opened up the portal. To all of their surprise, two shocked faces stared back at them from the other side.

“It worked?” The Tang lookalike blurted out, completely mystified. “I mean - it worked!”

“You can trust them,” MK’s reflection assured Wukong from the piece of a reflective surface of the furnace. “They want to help MK and A-Dan get back to where they belong.”

Wukong shouldn’t have been surprised that it would be Pigsy and Tang’s counterparts who had MK and A-Dan’s best interests in heart. They had been working nonstop to find a way to get MK and A-Dan back home.

“P-P-Please, you need to help MK!” The other Tang stammered with a panicked gleam in his eyes. “He’s -!”

“What? Held captive? Tortured?”

“Getting married!”

“What?!l”

To Red Son’s chagrin and everyone else’s horror, MK’s groom-to-be was none other than the dimension’s heir to the Demon Bull King Family. The entire mortal realm sang about their “epic love story” far and wide. So smitten with his fiancé, this world’s Red Son was willing to brush aside all tradition to jump right to the engagement ceremony and marriage. The mortal realm of this world seemed to be celebrating this “great love story second only to the Emperor and Empress.” Wukong was not as happy or amused. No doubt, MK was being strong-armed into this, either for his power or just to control him.

Wukong knew how Heaven loved its control.

But this world was different from his own. His Havoc has been successful and demons ruled the Three Realms. It was a vision he used to dream about in his younger days. Seeing it come to reality was horrifying.

Demons glutted themselves with power and prestige while humans and celestials suffered under their greed and entitlement. Violence was a part of everyday life. And the weak could only accept the constant injustice and abuse dealt onto them.

This was not where MK and A-Dan belonged.

“We’re totally going to crash that wedding, right?” Mei asked rhetorically, looking all too ready to make her own Havoc in Heaven happen. “Like, there’s no way MK would have his wedding without me so this is obviously something he doesn’t want.”

“Not like this is our first Celestial break-in,” Macaque said dryly, sharing a look with Wukong. “But we’re going to have to be smart about this. We want to make this quick and not alert anyone if we can help it. This isn’t just any enemy we’re facing - it’s ourselves.”

With some planning and a little bit of magic, the entire group managed to (subtly) cross into the Celestial Realm and (quietly) break into the Jade Palace.

Which….wasn’t as hard as Wukong initially thought it would be. Every servant recognized him as “The Emperor”. All of them were too fearful of catching his attention, so no one questioned his presence - or the presence of the others for that matter. And the people who would notice the difference weren’t around, too busy with the wedding preparations to notice that something was amiss.

“MK is right there,” the Reflection guided them all to an intricate set of doors.

Enthusiastically, Mei came up to the doors and knocked on them. “MK? MK~! We’re here to get you out!”

“…Go away.”

Mei’s smile wavered. “MK?”

“…Go. Please.”

Wukong stiffened at how dispirited the kid sounded. What in the world did the other him do to MK? To A-Dan?

Mei went to knock again but was interrupted when Red Son simply drop kicked the doors down.

“Cease your pathetic moping, Nyoodle Boy!” Red Son sneered as he stepped over the broken doors and towards the lump in the bed. “We have come to rescue you and you aren’t even expressing a proper amount of gratefulness! You should at least show some initiative and punctuality in your own rescue. You are wasting precious time as it is, peasant.”

“I told you to go - wait, “Nyoodle Boy”? “Peasant”? RED?!” MK jerked up from his bed with an overjoyed expression on his face, nearly headbutting poor Red Son, who was stunned silent at how decorated MK was with the Bull King Family’s symbols and colors. The young Monkey Demon’s joy doubled at the sight of his best friend. “MEI!”

“Heya, Monkey Man! Ya missed us?” Mei chirped cheekily.

To everyone’s surprise, MK began to bawl loudly. “Yes!” He wailed. “Yes, I did! So much! So much!”

“Awww, MK, c’mere,” Mei cooed as she drew him into a tight hug. He sobbed into her shoulder. “We missed you too.”

The rest of the group were quick to join in on the group hug, adding their own comforting words and expressions of worry. Red Son was the only one who stood back, too awkward to properly contribute to the reunion. That was, until Mei grabbed his elbow and dragged him in too.

“You guys came for me!” MK warbled as he sobbed into Macaque’s fur. “You guys really came!”

“Of course we did, bud. Was there any doubt?” Macaque gave MK’s back a final pat before drawing back. “Now…where is my daughter?”

Before MK could answer, Wukong felt something tug on his tail. He looked down and jerked in surprise when he saw small hands popping out of MK’s shadow to tug on his fur playfully. It took Wukong a ridiculously long moment to process that it was A-Dan. With a joyous shout, he lifted his tail, tugging a giggling A-Dan from the shadow.

“A-Dan!” Macaque all but ripped their daughter from Wukong’s tail, making the Monkey King wince as the action caused the loss of two, tiny fistfulls of hair. His Moonlight completely ignored his pain as he cuddled and kissed their small daughter, who could only wiggle and chirp with confusion at her Mama’s sudden smothering. “Oh, darling, you’re safe! You don’t know how much you worried me and your Baba, my little dawn. We ripped apart the earth and heavens for you. You won’t be leaving our sight for an entire century.”

“Cen’tree?!” A-Dan repeated with alarm. Though Wukong was sure she had no idea what a century meant, she certainly recognized Macaque’s tone and wasn’t too thrilled with what that meant. She turned pathetically to Wukong and sniffled, hoping to wiggle a different verdict from him. “Baba?”

Wukong could only smile helplessly at her pleading eyes. “Your Mama is right, A-Dan. You won’t be leaving our sight for an entire century.”

“Awww.”

Wukong’s smile wavered when he felt the little piece of the furnace vibrating and heating up in his pocket. He fished it out just in time to catch the last of what the Reflection was desperately trying to communicate to him. “ - to go. Monkey King! NOW! They’re on their way! They’re almost - !”

“- here, MK! Everyone’s waiting!”

Wukong heard all about the him in this world. The Emperor of the Three Realms, who overthrew Heaven and brought all demons to the top of the food chain. He sounded every bit of the person Wukong used to be before his Journey. And he was right. The Emperor who stood in front of them had the stance of someone who never faced a single consequence in his life. There was arrogance and cruelty in his stance. It was like taking a look at everything terrible and shameful about himself and making it a thousand times worse. This could’ve been him and Wukong hated it.

“You,” Wukong seethed.

“You,” the other him snarled.

Before either of them could act on their hatred, a shadow portal opened up under Wukong and the others, causing them all to drop and fall. Before the portal closed above their heads, Wukong could hear the other him shout.

“NO!”

If Wukong didn’t hate himself so much, his heart would’ve ached for the heartbreak and grief he heard in the Emperor’s voice.

#fic update #shadowpeach #the sundown era #lmk #little dawn au

44 notes · View notes

lunar-wandering · 2 years

Note

[kicks down door] travel through the mind? seeing everyone’s dreams/nightmares? tell me more (no pressure!!)

this doesn’t involve seeing everyone’s dreams/nightmares but i had an idea for the s3 special that, now that that is not what happened, i am now gonna reform it for a s4 idea for your guy’s pleasure:

the furnace survived the mech’s destruction.

Spider Queen is trapped in there in a sort of dream state.

Macaque ends up stumbling upon the furnace. Since he’s a Good Guy now, he figures he’s practically forced to help out and tries to drag Spider Queen out forcibly

this does not go well

see there’s a lot of energy being contained in the furnace right now, and if not done properly, losing a host could mean an explosion/the actual destruction of the furnace.

so when Macaque pulls Spider Queen out, the furnace does the reasonable thing and immediately searches for a new person to trap.

and of course, Macaque is right there.

Spider Queen wakes up on the ground and sees that Macaque has been taken in by the furnace and knows that this could be bad, Macaque has more energy than her, if the furnace continues to use him as a host the energy could start to lash out.

so she goes and finds Wukong.

(Wukong isn’t going to fail Macaque again)

Wukong feeds the furnace energy to try and satiate the spell LBD put in it while he pulls Macaque out.

Macaque practically falls out, into Wukong’s arms,

but then he’s yelling, pushing Wukong away, falling to the side, his hand covering his eye, his glamours down

(within the furnace, Macaque’s dream was the fight, Wukong scarring him, happening over and over and over without end)

Wukong didn’t feed enough energy to the spell

the last thing Wukong sees before he gets dragged into the furnace is Macaque’s fearful face

Macaque goes to find MK, because, you know, this is a problem.

MK still doesn’t really trust him so Macaque has to be kinda roundabout about the whole thing and subtly lead MK to the furnace

after being in the furnace, Macaque understands the spell more, and the only real way to break the spell inside the furnace without causing an explosion is to have the person inside wake up on their own power. doing so would cause most of the energy inside to attach itself to the host, but Wukong can definitely handle it, right?

it’s hard to wake someone up from a magic sleep though, so...

MK: ...what do we do? Macaque: I can use magic to send you in. Getting out will be all up to you. MK: ....... Macaque: look, i know you still don't trust me- MK: do it.

when MK enters Wukong’s mind, he’s in Havoc in Heaven.

yeah thats right the initial concept of this whole idea was because i saw there were three Wukong’s in the Havoc in Heaven lego set and went “what if each one of those is part of Wukong’s psyche”

Havoc in Heaven keeps repeating, over and over. MK tries to stop it.

at some point one of Wukong’s selves asks MK how he’s here, and MK brings up Macaque-

...and he ends up stumbling upon some kind of trauma, or Wukong's mental self starts throwing a fit trying to get MK out, and suddenly MK hears a voice echo in his head like "okay kiddo, time to go-" and then next thing he knows his face feels like it's been slapped, and Macaque is steadying him

"I thought getting out would be up to me!!" "that was before you started poking around in things that are better left alone" "....you were watching?" "Wukong's mind wouldn't let me in all the way, but i have....ways of working around that." Macaque's ears flicker briefly . "...you have to send me back in" "kid-" "dont argue with me. he's alone in there, and he's panicking. i have to help him" "...he'll resist. it'll be a lot more painful this time." "im ready." "....good luck kid."

when MK returns to Wukong’s mind, he’s no longer in Havoc in Heaven he finds Wukong, in his journey clothes, kneeling in the middle of a destroyed mountain range.

"....Monkey King?" "I killed him. I killed my best friend."

and theres just. this moment of silence where MK and Wukong just sit there together.

something something insert some emotional conversation here i don’t have the mental energy to type out

when they do get Wukong out he hugs MK immediately, and then Macaque goes "good to know your brain didn't melt under the pressure, though considering how rock brained you are im not even sure that's possible"

and immediately Wukong turns to him, and Macaque flinches- and then Wukong is hugging him. Wukong: im so glad you're alive. Macaque: ....i feel like i've missed something.

MK gives Macaque a pat on the back

...and the season’s new problem is the fact that despite being very powerful, Wukong cannot fully control the backlash from the furnace, and, notably. not all of the energy contained in the spell went into Wukong. some of it went into MK.

#Monkie Kid

152 notes · View notes

pttucker · 6 months

Text

[I've become the retired SSSSS-grade Son Wukong!!] Haven't I seen that many 'S' letters somewhere before? Even though I knew I was being taken for a ride here, I still tapped on the info tab of this chamber. And that's when I saw its introduction. – Introduction: Only I know the end of the Journey to the West.

Wow, what a totally not at all familiar title and plot.

Oh man, but them saying that they had someone they wanted to play Sun Wukong but he got delayed. 😭

And then the loooong pause after Dokja gives Sooyoung his new Modifier.

Am I reading too much into this or did they totally set this story up in the hopes that Dokja would fill the role that's so obviously his? Is Sooyoung surprised that it's not Dokja? Did her Predictive Plagiarism tell her this was the best way to find him and she's wondering what went wrong? Is the pause because she's upset and trying to decide if they should just go without him?

Or does she know it's Dokja and is wondering if he's lying or if he got a new modifier or is she deciding if she should call him out or just go along with it or...?

Ugh, both her knowing and her not knowing make sense.

It soooo seems like they have to know, though. I mean my goodness if this isn't straight up yelling directly in Dokja's face idk what is:

(This small stone monkey had a nasty habit of sacrificing himself to save other people, and many of those who received his unwanted rescue attempts ended up with psychological scars.) (Gods and Buddhas of the heavens all criticised him for it, yet that dumb rock-for-brains continued to throw his life away to save other people over and over again.) N-no, hang on a minute here. (The heaven's Great Jade Emperor and Buddha felt that they could no longer accept such actions from Sun Wukong anymore and imprisoned the Monkey King inside the stone crate under the Marble Mountain.) (And our story starts from there.)

...especially after Jihye literally said that they should bury him in a coffin and leave him there until the scenarios are over. They may not be able to do it in real life but at least they can play pretend!

But despite those harsh words they're so gentle and caring with him? 😭 Literally Dokja's job is to do nothing but rest and relax and let his companions handle things (for once).

I stepped forward and spoke up. "Both of you, please hide somewhere. I shall handle this." If my memory was working fine, then one of the players took on the role of the 'Tang Sanzang's White Dragon Horse'. I was pretty sure that he was the one behind the current event. Seeing that the kids were participating in this Story chamber, the rest of the players should also be from , but if someone with ill intention had somehow butted in here… "…We told you, you just stay on the bus."

Oh man, look at Dokja immediately going right back into protector mode and even assuming that maybe someone had infiltrated the story. And the sass they give him in return! Saying he can't even afford proper clothes for himself but wants to save them? And Yoosung's scary little smile?

THEY HAVE TO KNOW RIGHT?

Is this their way of showing him that they can handle themselves so please trust them to do so? Maybe some kind of angry "stop treating us like children, we are going to be the ones to save you"? An even angrier "how dare you save us when you can't even take proper care of yourself"?

And maybe also their way of letting him just rest finally? After all, how is Dokja to deny them taking care of him when it's literally the plot of the story they're enacting?

Also there's this weird little exchange:

– This way, he'll trust us more, you dummy. What will you do if he decides to wreak havoc later? I felt goosebumps break out on my skin. – …You're actually scared of him? Look at his current state, will ya?

Why would they assume some random stranger is going to wreck havoc??? In fact, who is the one person they know who regularly wrecks havoc for everyone around him? Also, the whole "look at his current state." Dokja assumes they're just talking about his shabby clothes or something but they're definitely talking about how weak he is right now, right? Like, I don't think Dokja was able to fully recover back at Secretive Plotter's place because last we saw he was only like 38% healed. (Yet another reason for his party to pamper him right now.)

Gilyoung and Yoosung are definitely saying "we can totally take Dokja right now he's so weak, if he starts to act up we'll shove him a box somewhere before he causes his usual mess," right???

Ughhh but everything also makes sense if they don't know.

Sooyoung would know that such a story would (and does) appeal to the Great Sage because he also wants to just have a nice relaxing time where he doesn't have to save anybody and is pampered by this companions. And of course a story mirroring the Demon King of Salvation's story in any way is going to draw attention, both from the Great Sage and the general public, as we literally just saw with both the Earth news and the news here. (And Sangah! Sangah is back!!!!!!!!! We actually get to see her again!!!!! And this is the story she's drawn to!!!!) And Dokja himself points out that by doing all of the work of the story, they'll ensure that Kim Dokja's Company gets all the story shares.

...Actually, you know what, just the fact that those are all Dokja's observations and reasonings makes me 100% believe they absolutely know it's him because Dokja always, always, always does exactly this every single time people try to help him or show that they care for him. He always assumes they have some ulterior motive and that they're doing it for their own gain. He never thinks that people are there for him. He is the most unreliable narrator ever when it comes to his own story.

If Dokja believes they're doing it for themselves then they have to actually be doing it for him.

They MUST know.

#orv novel chapters 425-427 #orv #orv spoilers #orv liveblog #omniscient reader's viewpoint #kdj #kdj crew #hsy sat them all down and told them exactly how they're gonna scam the scammer #and honestly at this point I think even the children are fine with it because they are SO tired of losing him #they can hold off on the hugging and crying if it'll help them keep dokja in the long run #especially if they figure that there's a very good reason for him to be in hiding even if they don't know exactly why #also as an aside this novel gives me so much whiplash at times lmao #we went from 'this is definitely the end the apocalypse has come!!!' to 'let's all put on a play pretending to be the Great Sage'#what even is this novel

16 notes · View notes

the-monkey-ruler · 1 year

Text

Monkey King: The Havoc in Heaven (2025) 西游记之大圣闹天宫

Director: Tian Xiaopeng

Screenwriter: Tian Xiaopeng

Genre: Animation / Fantasy

Country/Region of Production: Mainland China

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Also known as: Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage 2 / 大圣闹天宫 / The Monkey King Havoc in Heaven / 西游记之大圣归来2

Type: Retelling

Summary:

On October 25, 2015, Enlight Pictures announced the establishment of "Caitiaowu Pictures". Before the release of the film "The Return of the Great Sage", Light invested in the "October Culture" owned by the film director Tian Xiaopeng "The Return of the Great Sage" before it was released. Tian Xiaopeng also announced on the same day two blockbuster animation films, "The Great Sage Havoc in Heaven" and "The Deep Sea".

"The Great Sage Havoc in Heaven", the great sage in "Trouble in Heaven" is at his most energetic, "Havoc" has basically no connection with the previous works, it is Tian Xiaopeng's new interpretation of "Journey to the West", and it is also what he most wants to do Journey to the West theme."

Source: https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/33173

Link: N/A

#Monkey King: The Havoc in Heaven #西游记之大圣闹天宫 #Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage 2 #大圣闹天宫 #The Monkey King Havoc in Heaven #西游记之大圣归来2 #jttw media #jttw movie #movie #lost media #animation #Retelling #addition

28 notes · View notes

janetbrown711 · 1 year

Text

A Spiral into Darkness

Macaque loves Sun Wukong more than anything in the world, and doesn't take it well when he just leaves for heaven the first chance he gets.

Ao3 Link

The Sun and the Moon– one brilliant, outstanding, garnering much attention and praise, the other a mere reflection only regarded by a careful few in the night.

Macaque liked that metaphor. He and Wukong had something unique– something special. They were different from the other monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain and while Macaque wasn’t exactly as old as his king, they still bonded over their differences. Plus, unlike a few of the other monkeys Sun Wukong seemed to like his ears, and especially liked picking out the fleas and bugs in his fur where others wouldn’t.

They fought demons together, trained together, saved monkeys together– though the Monkey King had never said it, Macaque often liked to think of himself as the secondary Monkey King, a figure just as great and powerful and equal.

He thought Wukong believed this too– especially with how often Macaque stayed in his pagoda and how Wukong always greeted him with cheerfulness and a cool rock he found sometimes too. It also helped that Macaque always knew how Wukong talked about him because of his many ears.

Praise, adoration, lust, and admiration of power.

Macaque was the king’s strongest warrior, his equal and opposite.

The Moon to his Sun.

“You know, you really would think they’d keep the underworld locked up a lot tighter,” Wukong boasted, picking something out of his teeth as he and Macaque walked back to Flower Fruit Mountain.

“As if there’s anything that could ever hold the two of us back, my liege,” Macaque teased with his tail. “Though I will say, you were subdued pretty easily– kind of shameful, isn’t it?”

Wukong rolled his eyes and flicked away Macaque’s tail. “It's your fault, I was resting waiting for you to return with the peaches, and yet you were gone and I was swept away. Shameful really, for a warrior so great to abandon his duty like that.”

“Oh I see– it’s my fault the ever venerable and great Sun Wukong decided he needed a little nap? I mean, I know you tend to laze about, but really– to allow you to be dragged to the underworld, tsk tsk,” Macaque shook his head. “You’d be so hopeless without me, bi bi.”

Wukong laughed. “Does that mean I can finally call attention to when I caught you snoring away when the Python Demon was wreaking havoc?”

“That was entirely your fault for keeping me awake for five whole nights, Sun Wukong, and you know this,” Macaque gave him a smirk.

“I am your king too, Macaque, and therefore never at fault,” Wukong caught sight of a flea on Macaque’s fur and plucked it out.

“Right, I almost forgot,” Macaque tsk-ed. “Careful peaches, if your head gets any bigger it won’t fit through the door.”

“Because you’re one to talk about pride,” Wukong sounded a little more annoyed than Macaque expected at that.

“Let’s just get home,” He resisted grumbling about it only a little. Wukong sighed, summoned his cloud, and the two of them flew off back to Flower Fruit Mountain at a much faster pace than just walking.

Macaque listened as they soared over mountains and volcanoes, heard some birds call and once they got close enough some chirps from monkeys.

It was something Macaque never really did and wasn’t fond of initiating, though sometimes Wukong would do it and he’d respond, but it wasn’t something he clung to. In general he didn’t cling to a lot of things except grooming and laying together and a lot of teasing.

Macaque nearly fell off the cloud when it came to a sudden jerk.

“Hey Peaches, watch the cargo,” He snapped, but Wukong silenced him by pulling out his staff.

“Someone’s here…” He said, not looking back, investigating the mountain, before separating the falls with his staff.

Wukong was correct, someone was there– a tall, old looking man with a beard that practically reached the floor and dressed in gold and white robes detailed with stars from the heavens. Macaque growled as he pulled out his own staff.

“Ah, Sun Wukong, you’re finally back. My name is Taibai Jinxing, I come from heaven to make you a proposition,” said the man. Wukong lowered his staff and hopped off the cloud while Macaque stayed in his defensive position.

“Gold Star of Venus, huh? Yeah I think I’ve heard of you– what’s the position?” Wukong put his staff all the way back in his ear.

Macaque scoffed to himself, “He isn’t actually thinking about taking this guy’s offer, right?”

Still, he watched carefully.

“That is for the Jade Emperor to decide, as he invited you to come and live there himself,” Taibai Jinxing gestured to the heavens.

The almighty monkey king laughed. “Took him long enough! Would’ve thought shooting laser beams through his house was enough, but if it takes breaking out of the underworld, then so be it.”

“Oh it was hardly just that, Sun Wukong. Come along, we can discuss all things with His Imperial Highness,” The deity began to levitate.

“Oh please, as if Wukong would leave this mountain paradise just to join a bunch of stuffy bureaucrats,” Macaque laughed to himself and shook his head before he noticed Wukong had already summoned his cloud once more.

“Wait, Wukong, you can’t just leave m– us-! What about the kingdom? The monkeys?” He tugged on his king’s sleeve.

Wukong looked at Macaque with an expression Macaque couldn’t read.

“Ah, surely you’re a bold enough warrior to care for them all. Also, I didn’t cross out just my name so maybe you can enlist the immortal monkeys to help you fight or something,” He swatted away his hand. “And besides, I know you already like to call yourself ‘king’. Perhaps this will be a chance to prove yourself to me, no?”

Macaque took a shaky step back.

“Fine,” He said, looking sharply into Wukong’s soft golden eyes.

“Knew you could do it,” Wukong patted his shoulder before turning to the heavenly figure. “Alright let’s go Taibai Jinxing.”

And then they were off.

And Macaque was alone in the pagoda.

Wukong didn’t even appear to look back.

And as Macaque listened, he didn’t so much as mutter his name…

Well then.

Macaque took an annoyed breath, running his fingers through his fur as he thought to himself.

Wukong was impulsive and distractible– surely he’d return within a week no doubt. This was just a vacation, a distraction from what really mattered and Wukong would be back soon enough. Besides, if Macaque did this right perhaps he too would be the official Monkey King and could finally force the inhabitants of the mountain to give him the respect he deserved.

Yes, yes– this wasn’t a betrayal, it was a short time away, a break, no different from when he’d go and hunt humans or prey on smaller demons.

This was a test, and Macaque was going to pass.

The Sun and Moon were equals in the celestial sphere.

.o0o.

Macaque ruled over Flower Fruit Mountain with an iron fist. Everyone was supposed to train from dawn till dusk all week days and on weekends they were to gather food for the upcoming week.

Unfortunately, the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain didn’t like that much, and basically started protesting en masse, and so Macaque said “fine we’ll see how much you like being kingless” and went and stayed in Wukong’s pagoda.

Nobody came to him.

Nobody groomed him.

Nobody shared their food with him.

Nope.

Instead, they all stayed downhill swinging on their peach trees and chirping the whole day long without a care in the world for how loud it could ring in all six of Macaque’s ears.

Not that he cared.

Not that it made him sometimes want to listen to the heavens, to see if Wukong was thinking of him as much as he thought of him–

Which wasn’t at all.

Macaque was supposed to prove himself– what was he doing moping like this.

When he called the Monkeys back up the mountain, a lot of them hesitated but he ordered with a reminder that it was Wukong himself who placed him here so a defiance of him was a defiance of Wukong, and so they eventually climbed on up.

He told them all he was going to be taking a leave to go and study the tao and other arts for himself, to work to better protect the rest of them.

And he did, using Wukong’s name and former alliances with demon kings to learn the art of shapeshifting, of invulnerability, and something he somewhat created on his own but started to perfect was the art of shadowplay.

It was an evolution of a light technique he learned while kind of sort of studying the tao, where he focused more on draining light than creating it, slowly able to melt whole bodies and objects through what he called shadow doors.

It did have one side effect though, turning his fur slowly dark and darker. Macaque didn’t care much about it, glamouring whenever he bothered returning to Flower Fruit Mountain, but even if he forgot no one brought it up when they brought him his peaches.

Sometimes he thought about hiding in the shadows in heaven– just to see what Wukong was up to. Macaque had apparently missed a day where he had gone back down and somehow managed to snag the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

As if that asshole needed more of an ego.

He wished he could’ve fought the Mighty Spirit God or Prince Nezha– these days he really felt like bashing in some heavenly skulls.

But no, apparently he had gone back and according to the other monkeys he hadn’t even said a word about Macaque or their arrangement where he was now their king.

Not that he cared. Wukong had better things, clearly.

And Macaque did too.

Like eating people, bashing in skulls and listening to the sounds of an empty pagoda as he was reminded over and over his body didn’t need sleep and didn’t like it without the soft touch of his Sun.

The Sun and The Moon– when one sets, another rises. Clearly the Sun has set into the Heavens and now it is the Moon’s turn to shine and earn the worship of others, and now that Macaque had much more power surely it would end much better than the previous time.

.o0o.

The monkeys certainly listened to him more this time, to the point where it felt like maybe if you squinted they could sort of count as an army. The immortal ones were useful as Wukong had mentioned before he disappeared, so that was good.

But again, Macaque couldn’t be bothered to just stay on the mountain, and so after about 15 years or so, he continued to venture out and test out his new powers of mirroring and disappearing, especially on nearby villages. He left the immortals in charge telling them to train the others and that the Great Sage’s pagoda was off limits under penalty of his and Wukong’s wrath (a lie, but he didn’t want them sniffing around there).

He ventured far and wide for many years then, picking fights with mountain gods and no-name demons until suddenly it seemed like earth was just… out of gods.

It was the strangest thing– every deity for miles and miles and miles and miles was just– gone. Hell– even a good amount of demons were in hiding now too. Macaque was thankfully able to bang on the door of none other than the Bull Demon King and he begrudgingly took him in for answers out of respect for their mutual friend.

“So– why exactly is everyone getting the hell out of dodge right now? Doesn’t make sense– I’ve been getting really good at my mirroring– I wanted to test it out on the whole eastern mountain range,” Macaque bemoaned as he removed his scarf and gave it to one of the king’s servants.

“I believe our mutual friend, the Great Sage, has been causing quite a stir in heaven, from what I’ve heard from my– sources… I hear he’s fighting a whole heavenly army right about now” He said, snapping and ordering a servant to bring them tea.

That only made Macaque more angry. When the tea came he stirred his spoon, staring at his ever changing reflection with disgust. “You know, Wukong makes it sound so easy to just break in and out of heavenly places.”

The Bull Demon King laughed. “He has truly become a formidable foe. I’ve heard now that he has become immortal at least five times now.”

“What?! That’s– that’s insanity,” Macaque slammed his arms on the table, garnering a huff of warning from his host.

“You do know we are talking about Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, no?” He said, picking up his tea cup and taking a sip despite it still bubbling in his cup.

Macaque huffed and crossed his arms.

“Wukong, do you think you’ll ever teach me what Sobodhi taught you?”

“What, the transformations? You have a method all your own for that, no Subhodi needed.”

“No, I mean immortality, so zyu. I want to live forever like you will.”

Wukong sat up and started to groom Macaque. “I don’t know. It’s nice to know I’ll always be able to protect myself and that no demon or celestial being can really cause me harm, but I don’t know why you’d need it, you are already practically indestructible.”

“But I want to live as long as you do, bi bi. I want to be able to fight by your side until the universe itself burns out and it will be just the two of us in the darkness.”

Wukong laughed a little. “There would be more than just the two of us, Macaque. Plenty of celestial beings and demons are immortal, but I suppose I see your point. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good a teacher as Subhodi but perhaps the next time I find a way to immortality I will share it with you.”

Macaque smiled. “Thank you, peaches.”

“I suppose we are,” He muttered.

The Bull Demon King sighed. “I would offer to spar with you, Friend Macaque, but I have business of my own to attend to– as I’m pretty sure you do too on account of Wukong supposedly leaving you in charge of his domain. In fact, you should probably be there helping him fight the heavenly armies before it’s too late and he’s destroyed them all and made himself the new Emperor of Heaven,” The enormous bull laughed at that last joke.

Macaque thought about it before nodding. “I suppose you are right, Bull Demon King. The tea was–” he glanced at his full, bubbling and steaming cup– “lovely, but I must be off to go defend Flower Fruit Mountain. Until we meet again,” He winked before standing and allowing himself to fall backward into a shadow that brought him a few miles from Flower Fruit Mountain.

He decided to let himself fly the rest of the way, imagining how bloody and intense the scene would be– Wukong against hundreds of thousands– perhaps millions of heavenly soldiers with the help of the monkeys he himself helped train (about 46 years ago). It made his cloud rush further and further until he was there and–

Nothing.

Sure there was plenty of celestial blood on the ground, and a few wounded monkeys gathering themselves, but there were no gods, no warriors, no emperors beheaded, and no Sun Wukong.

He landed on the blood stained grass, feeling it under his bare feet, and sat and listened to voices nearby.

“--That battle against the 36 thunder deities was nothing like it was with Erlang and his dog.”

“I heard his majesty fought Budha and won!”

“I bet he’s up in heaven right now making a throne next to– if not on top of the Jade Emperor’s throne.”

“Did you see his eyes? They’re redder than a ruby!”

“Who could focus on his eyes when Budha himself was here?!”

“I hope he’ll come back soon, I want to hear more tales of heaven.”

Hmph.

So Wukong fought with heaven not just once but twice in his absence and not once sent for him.

How wonderful and gracious his precious Sun Wukong was.

No matter, he would just go to the pagoda and ask him about it himself.

He quickly fell into a shadow once more and appeared right outside his and Wukong’s home– which surprisingly actually seemed untouched.

“Peaches, you home?” He called out.

No response.

“Man, and here I thought The Great Sage Equal to Heaven didn’t need to rest after battles, no he’s too strong, even when he was just Shi Hou,” He grinned, examining each room as he passed, slowly becoming more and more confused the more they continuously proved themself to be empty.

“Wukong?” Macaque was getting nervous. He gripped iron rails with a death grip and summoned his staff too for extra measure (though he didn’t know what exactly he planned to do with it).

Each room felt more empty than the next, as it was just as he had left it decades ago, minus shards of glass and bits of evidence of the great heavenly battle. When he got to their bedroom it too was empty, and that was when Macaque fully realized he had gone without telling him once again.

Great.

Just great.

Peachy, even.

Forgotten again, but what did Macaque care? He never needed that asshole, and neither did anyone else on this goddamn mountain.

He gathered his things from their shared room in a hurry, packing it all into a brown sac he tied sloppily before heading out, surprised to be greeted by a crowd of monkeys outside.

“Macaque! Where have you been?!”

“What happened to your fur?”

“Wait, that’s Liu Er Mihou?”

“He has six ears doesn’t he?”

“You missed two battles with heaven-!”

“Monkey King was really mad you took his place but left–”

“We can’t find him! Do you know where he is?”

Too many words were being thrown at his face to care about, so Macaque just shrugged up his sack again and walked through the crowd, ignoring the fact they started to follow with their persistent questions, glamoring his ears away.

“Where are you going?”

“Are you going to find him?”

“Yeah! Are you gonna find him?”

“I’m not going to find Wukong!” Macaque snapped, turning to face the startled crowd. “I’m leaving and don’t expect me to come back.”

A few of the elder and immortal monkeys rolled their eyes while the younger looked at him in confusion.

“W-well who will look for our King?” one brave monkey spoke up.

“I don’t care, and honestly neither should any of you,” He spat, causing some of them to gasp. “Wukong clearly doesn’t give a shit– he didn’t need to fight here and yet he used many of you as collateral damage in his foolish attempts to claim glory for himself. He likely has just run off again to abandon the real workers, the true warriors of this mountain. If you have any self respect left, leave this mountain or at least abandon hope in Sun Wukong because he won’t be back for a very, very long time and even if he does, he sure won’t be thankful.”

Silence spread over the crowd as everyone exchanged glances, questioning his honesty. Macaque stood his ground with a smirk.

“Well, I know I won’t leave. Wukong has always protected us, and he’s a far better leader than you’ve ever been! All you’ve done is run off and when you return you demand all of us to be at your beck and call! Frankly, I’m glad to be rid of you,” A particularly tall monkey– ah yes, one of the immortals– said. Macaque rolled his eyes.

“Don’t come looking for me when another fifty years pass and your precious king is nowhere to be found,” He waved, summoning a shadow door.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.”

Macaque huffed and fell through.

The King was the Sun and the Warrior the Moon; one rose, another fell, neither needed. The sun could shine on its own after all, he didn’t need anyone else or any other goddamned stars– he was selfish and an egomaniac. The Moon was fine on it’s own, it didn’t need the sun, so what if it didn’t shine without it– the moon would be there anyways.

.o0o.

He didn’t know where exactly he was when he left the shadow realm– he didn’t really have a place in mind. He had no idea where Wukong was and therefore was unsure of where he could avoid him. He pondered crashing at a demon king’s place, but something told Macaque he needed to find his own place.

He decided to just kind of fuck around for awhile, transforming in to various animals, fighting and killing and eatting a villager here and there or a weary traveller, all sorts of things.

Time passed in a great illusion. He stopped keeping track of the passing days and weeks, eventual months and days and years– something he knew happened to immortals and the “cannot die unless killed” group eventually but when he noticed it it struck him as odd– especially because it meant he now had no idea how mad he should precisely be at Wukong for not looking for him.

He caught glimpses of signs of change when he would wander in the once small village now a bustling civilization that wasn’t too far from Flower Fruit Mountain Macaque often returned to for no real reason. He’d return every once in a while and it turned from a few small homes to places with plazas and bathhouses and elaborate gardens and festivals he’d never heard of before.

That meant centuries were passing.

Well good. It meant he was keeping up without Wukong– he was coping greatly. He had mastered his art of shapeshifting, puppetry and all other shadow tricks. It had turned all his fur to a pitch black now, but he didn’t miss the old pale colors– he blended in much better now and was able to kill much more efficiently.

Yes, Macaque had truly become a thing of terror.

HIs shapeshifting, puppetry and manipulation skills had proved most advantageous when it came to his hunt. He was able to strike and kill and draw blood with such swiftness he knew even Wukong didn’t have.

He now had a name– a reputation– a bedtime story you told children and legends of his mimicry and his sharp fangs and his powerful hearing. He even saw some of the art made of him– bloody eyes and teeth half clouded in shadow, the other half in the appearance of another villager.

This suited him just fine.

To be feared was better than to be loved anyways.

People feared the night and the moon and shadows with it. They worshiped and gossiped about the Sun and his whereabouts, about how he personally fought with almost every single deity in the celestial sphere and must either be the new emperor or demolished entirely, or perhaps is somewhere else being punished for his many crimes.

The Moon didn’t care for what the Sun did anyway– it was better if they were gone anyway, regardless of the light it still pulled the tide and released wolves and could do plenty in its own right.

.o0o.

Over five hundred years passed.

Macaque did make a place of his own, a place far out west– a pagoda of darkness, of shadows and whispers and of insanity for those unprepared to go within. A hall of mirrors, a theater for shadow puppets, and plenty of space for those foolish enough to go inside to wander before they realize they’re trapped with the legendary six eared Macaque, and nobody survived that.

However, while out and about getting some nice fresh air, Macaque heard a voice like nails on a chalkboard.

Sun Wukong.

Burning hatred consumed his soul as he pondered just leaping down upon him and tearing him to shreds, when he noticed he was with a group, and a rather odd one at that.

A tall, burly ocean demon towered over most of the group, his skin a greenish-blue like of the ponds and rivers by flower fruit mountain. There was a very angry pig demon, wielding a rake and looking pretty pissed at– yes, there was Wukong. He was wearing strange clothes with a curious circlet on his head. There was also a rather mighty looking white horse with some old monk– wait a minute…

Macaque squinted and used shadows to get a little closer to the bickering group to see what was up and– holy fucking shit– it was the reincarnation of Golden Cicada with–

Why the fuck was he with Wukong??? Then again, it seemed like it wasn’t lasting, as everyone was pretty pissed at him. The monk recited a sutra, which caused Wukong to wither and cry out in agony.

Now that brought a smile to Macaque’s face.

“Gah–! After all this time?! Master, I-i have been nothing but loyal a-and we have been through so much now– Why are you still doing this?!” Wukong cried out.

Wukong a slave? Now that was something Macaque needed to see.

“Loyal?! You’ve abandoned our master and mission about fifty times so far! Master, let’s banish Wukong again. We are so close, we don’t need his flimsy morals to bring an end to the pilgrimage now,” The pig man spoke.

“Flimsy?! Master, surely you know I only do what I can to protect you and this mission, please don’t do this again– we are so close, after all.”

“Wukong…” The monk took a deep breath. “You killed a mortal– a human. You knew from the very beginning such things wouldn’t be allowed, it goes against everything this pilgrimage stands for.”

“Master, spare Brother Wukong, it was the heat of the moment– a relapse, even. They were bandits and they were attempting to kill us, after all.” The big one spoke next.

Brother? Psh, Sun Wukong was brothers to no one.

“You cannot destroy an entire village like that though, Sun Wukong, you know this. There is to be trial, a fair judgment– you cannot dictate whatever you desire just because you’re powerful enough to never face the consequences,” The monk clutched his staff tightly.

The sutra’s effects must’ve worn off as Wukong stood.

“Then I suppose you’re going to give me the consequences again, despite the tightening spell being plenty painful already?”

The monk glanced at his other disciples. The tall one stood his ground to defend Wukong, but the pig man still seemed huffy.

“I am just saying Friar Sand, if it were either of us we would certainly be banished already,” The pig man muttered under his breath but of course Macaque heard it perfectly.

“I… I’m sorry, Sun Wukong, but… but we are almost at the scripture and I… I will not sacrifice any of my morals now.”

“Master, I am begging for you to consider otherwise, please!”

Wukong was now on his knees willingly.

“Oh Sun Wukong, what a husk you’ve become,” Macaque smiled to himself.

“I am sorry, Pilgrim Sun, but as the Great Tang Monk and the leader of this journey I am banishing you from this group once again.”

Wukong stood slowly.

“So be it then.”

It was then Macaque got a glimpse of those red eyes he had only heard about in rumor– and they were certainly mighty and fierce. Perhaps that’s why the monk doesn’t seem to trust him.

Wukong summoned his familiar golden cloud, tears in his eyes.

“For your own sake, I hope you come to your senses soon, or that you will remain safe for the rest of the journey.” He said bitterly before looking at the tall one.

“Thank you for always fighting for me, Friar Sand, I will never forget your kindness.” He said, before immediately flying away.

The remaining group members stood around for a while, before heading more westward and that was when Macaque started to form a plan.

It was time for the Moon to rise again.

.o0o.

Macaque stalked the pilgrims from the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. Thankfully, the Great Tang Monk was hungry, and asked his pilgrims to go for food while he stayed by the campfire. Of course they obeyed (the idiots) and that was when Macaque got behind him, summoned his staff, and gave him a proper whack on the head, knocking him clean out.

He pondered eating the monk for a moment, but he cared more about his revenge against Wukong than he did about immortality now. He then summoned a great sack and stole all of their supplies, save for the ones that Sand and Pig guy had.

He made sure in particular to snatch the travel receipt so their journey would certainly fail– whatever it was. He made sure to make it clear that it was all the work of Sun Wukong, going so far as to transform into him to leave the perfect tracks behind, before he leapt into the shadows and disappeared to Flower Fruit Mountain.

… The place had a much weirder vibe than he recalled, but it had been over five hundred years, so who really knows. He went to a very public spot to wait for one or both of the Pilgrim’s arrivals. He ordered all monkeys away with a harsh snap that made all of them instantly abandon him, though he noticed looks of judgement and curiosity from the same goddamned immortal ones that were still fucking here for some goddamn reason.

He waited alone for many days, before the tall pilgrim– Sandy or something– arrived.

“Brother Monkey! There you are, I’ve been searching far and wide with many, many questions– why would you take our things? I know you are upset, as am I, but you said you wished us safety on our journey and it’s– well, it’s all rather confusing.”

“Confusing?” Macaque chuckled. “What’s confusing? I don’t care about you three– er, four if I’m counting the horse.”

“If you are counting the horse–? Brother Monkey, what has gotten into you, I beg for you to answer truthfully,” The demon seemed genuinely heartbroken.

“I don’t care, Friar Sand. All you people have done is toss me aside and you know what? I have decided that I am powerful enough to finish this all on my own anyways– you all can just crawl back into whatever hellhole you crawled out from. I will claim the glory for myself.”

The taller demon shook his head. “Brother, you know as well as I Buddha will not just hand you the scripture, they must be given to the chosen seeker– our master.”

“Oh please, I’m well aware, and in fact, already have a plan,” Macaque grinned, creating perfect clones of all other members of the group, except much quieter.

“Brother, I cannot allow you to do this,” Friar Sand summoned a trident.

Macaque laughed.

“I’d like to see you try,” he grinned, falling backward into a shadow while the clones attacked the blue demon.

Macaque watched from high above in a tree as the pilgrim fought and struggled, but by some miracle he managed to destroy the clone of himself.

“Wukong! Come out here and face me!” He shouted, pushing back an attack from the clone of the monk.

“See, I would buddy, but… I really don’t give a shit,” Macaque shadow traveled behind him, disappearing as fast as he had come though so the pilgrim couldn’t land a hit.

“Gah– I see you’ve truly fallen back onto your path of darkness then. Well– I-i–” The pilgrim’s face lit up at a thought, which made Macaque angry, but he quickly forgot that when he retreated entirely.

After that, he decided a take a stroll through the peach gardens still in the form of the Monkey King, eating the heavenly* fruits with a certain fondness.

*a metaphorical heavenly taste, of course

However, in no less than a couple hours he heard someone arriving at the mountain– someone familiar–

Wukong.

Macaque instantly shadow traveled closeby. “Friar Sand, I see you’ve returned and– who is this imposter you are with?!”

“An imposter? HA! Anyone could see that disguise of yours any day– whoever you are,” Wukong glared at him, summoning his staff.

“I hope you’ve prayed to even a sliver as skilled as I am,” Macaque grinned, summoning his own.

“Bah!” Wukong instantly went in for the attack.

The battle was great and climatic– mountains were destroyed, towns torn apart as Macaque purposefully tried to direct him into them, but Wukong forced him higher and higher into the clouds. They exchanged very little conversation, as Macaque just tried to enjoy seeing the Great Sun Wukong, Stone Monkey King with a heart of similar rock bleed.

Wukong punched and whacked him with his staff, and Macaque did similarly, slightly impressed but then overwhelmingly proud and cocky of his perfected mimicry– not a single person could tell who was who.

“Wukong! Guanyin– remember!”

Macaque and Wukong nodded, much to Wukong’s annoyance, as now both of them focused on dragging the other even more upward until eventually they were at the bodhisattva’s island.

“Ah, Sha Wujing, Sun Wukong and Sun Wu–…kong…” Guanyin stared at the identical monkeys in disbelief.

Macaque gasped. “I cannot believe– there is no creature on earth who could mimic so excellently as to blind a bodhisattva before! My lady, please, I beg of you to strike down the false Wukong, he seeks to cause you and the pilgrimage harm,” he got onto his knees.

“No-! Guanyin, it is he who is the fake! I have been at your side for many hours– many earth days, I beg of you to understand I would never steal the pilgrim’s things, it is unlike me!”

“Guanyin, do not listen to him. We do not know how well his mimicry skills work– for all we know he summoned a hair clone to do all that work for him while he was distracting you!” Macaque swore.

“My dear Sun Wukong, I do hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to test,” Guanyin took a deep breath before reciting the tightening spell, causing Wukong and Macaque (in fake, of course) to fall over and cry in agony. Guanyin immediately stopped at both of their responses.

“That’s– That’s impossible! There’s only one fillet, right my lady?” Friar Sand asked.

“That is correct, and only one sutra…” Quanyin looked genuinely disturbed as Macaque and Wukong gained their composure.

“You dastardly fiend, if we were not in such sacred grounds I would tear you limb from limb,” Wukong growled.

“I feel very much the same,” Macaque growled back.

“Wukong, Friar Sand– take the imposter to the celestial realm, perhaps those who know Wukong from the many battles in heaven will know him by his technique,” She ordered the three of them.

“Gladly, my lady,” Macaque grinned, excited to show off his skill once more, grabbing Wukong’s arm who pushed away to try and grab his before Sandy grabbed both of them and separated them onto different arms before bowing to Guanyin and heading to the celestial realm.

Once at the gates, the blue demon tried to seek a way in, but both Wukong and Macaque didn’t have the patience, figuring the best way to get an audience was to simply break in, and there they would perhaps be able to tell the imposter.

The pair fought all the way to the Jade emperor’s throne, where Wukong and the sand guy explained the situation, with Macaque budding in to interrupt his sentences. The Jade emperor grew nervous at the mention of Guanyin not being able to tell them apart, and asked the armies of heaven if her theory proved true, but none of them knew if one or the other was the imposter.

The emperor ordered for a mirror of truth to be brought to the room, but alas, Macaque was so powerful it fooled even that.

Now that made Wukong furious (totally as well as Macaque because he was totally the true Wukong).

Wukong leapt at Macaque, instantly punching him through the jade palace, all the way through the celestial sphere and back down to earth. Macaque laughed and fought back just as vigorously.

“Heaven, don’t you see how consumed with rage this one is? Surely I’ve become more than this– I’ve learned many a great thing on the pilgrimage and this imposter surely has learned nothing,” He glared, a light flashing in his eyes to Wukong.

The flash made Wukong hesitate a moment, and that was when Macaque took his chance and used his staff to send Wukong crashing down to the earth, crashing in a gigantic crater.

“Pilgrim Sun– what is going on– where is Friar Sand– what the– why are there two? Why are you fighting?! Stay back!” The great Tang monk pointed his staff at the two of them as Macaque floated down gently.

“Master,” Macaque went on his knees. “I have returned to you to apologize, for this false Wukong here has taken your supplies and halted the journey, something I never once desired to happen,” he then summoned the sack of their things and placed it humbly before the monk.

“Don’t– don’t listen, Master,” Monkey struggled to get up, coughing from the dust and debris. “He is the liar– he knows nothing of what he speaks about,” he held his side and walked over.

“Woah– there’s two of them now?!” The pig pilgrim joined the conversation. “That can’t be good.”

“Yes, apparently,” The monk sighed, before getting an idea, reciting the tightening sutra just as Guanyin had, causing very similar results, causing an embarrassingly fast halt.

“I apologize, Pilgrim Sun, I-i thought that would work…”

“You always do,” Wukong muttered, standing up. Macaque just scoffed.

After that, none other than Guanyin showed up again.

“Apologies for my lateness, but I have a suggestion– how about we go to the underworld and check the ledgers of the dead– perhaps they will be able to find the imposter’s name in their books,” She suggested.

Upon agreeing, Wukong and Macaque fought their way down to the underworld, where Quanyin and the other pilgrims explained the situation.

They searched far and wide across all ledgers, but Macaque’s name wasn’t in any of them.

Hm… Well that was interesting, he supposed.

“Well then– if neither the Tang Monk nor the armies of heaven nor Guanyin nor the Jade Emperor are able to tell the false Wukong from the truth then I suppose our only remaining choice is Buddha himself.

Uh oh.

“An excellent idea,” he grinned at Wukong for assurances.

Quickly, the pilgrims and Guanyin headed westward with great pace, arriving in what felt like mere seconds.

“Man– why’d we have do all that walking if we could’ve just done this the whole time,” The pigman grumbled upon their arrival, receiving a look from the Tang Monk.

Upon their entrance, Macaque could practically feel the Buddha’s eyes scorching into his soul, but he kept his composure.

After all, he had already fooled countless gods, what was one enlightened bozo to the rulers of the heavens and underworld?!

“Guanyin, my dear friend, it is good to see you, as well as you Sun Wukong.” The Buddha smiled kindly at Wukong.

Fuck.

“Oh Enlightened One, it is an honor to be in your presence,” The monk and his disciples, as well as Guanyin bowed, though Macaque didn’t until Wukong started to as well.

“Ah, Tang Sanzang, I’ve been expecting you. However, we must deal with this fake Sun Wukong first.”

“O-of course, your enlightened-ness,” The monk bowed even more.

“Bodhisattva, do you know of the Four Spiritual Primates?” Buddha asked Guanyin.

“I do. There is the stone monkey Sun Wukong, the Red Red-Buttocked Baboon, The Bare-Armed Gibbon, and lastly the Six Eared Macaque,” She recalled.

Fuck.

“You remember quite correctly, Guanyin. These four are often referred to as the Four Monkeys of Havoc, and it is not hard to see why based on our very own Wukong, is it not?” Buddha teased Wukong, who blushed a little.

“The Stone Monkey has powers over form and shape, he recognizes the seasons, discerns the advantages of earth, and is able to alter the course of planets and stars. The Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey has knowledge of yin and yang, understands the affairs of humans, is adept in its daily life and is able to avoid death and lengthen its life as they so please. Tongbi Gibbon can seize the Sun and Moon, shorten a thousand mountains, distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, and manipulate planets and stars. And the Six Eared Macaque?”

Buddha looked right at him.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck–

“The Six Eared Macaque can hear for thousands of miles, discernment of fundamental principles, knowledge of past and future, and a comprehension of all things. On top of that though, he has gone and gained further abilities, able to melt into shadows and create perfect copies of those he witnesses and knows all about.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the pair.

“Our imposter is none other than the macaque, and he will attempt to flee very, very soon,” He gestured towards Macaque.

And his disguise was instantly gone.

Fuck.

“Macaque,” Wukong growled, slowly going into a fighting stance.

Macaque started to panic– he could feel everyone closing in around him, and so slipped through a shadow, far, far away, but Wukong managed to somehow follow him through it, and when they appeared on the other side in a forest, Wukong immediately began attacking with even more power and fury that before.

“Haha-! Look who’s finally not holding back after all,” Macaque tried to keep his composure as he ran for dear life.

“I’m not playing any more games, Macaque. You abandoned your post, you abandoned your family, and then you attacked the pilgrims– for that you will pay with your life,” Wukong picked up a tree and threw it at Macaque, who narrowly avoided it by transforming into a snake and back into his regular form again.

“Oh you’re one to talk of abandonment Wukong-! You didn’t even hesitate to go to heaven when you were offered– you thought nothing of the monkeys until I said something,” Macaque growled, shadow traveling right behind him attempting a quick attack, but Wukong sensed it and blocked.

“I returned three times, Macaque, and you were gone every time. I gave you a task– to prove yourself worthy of something I knew you always wanted and yet you failed me repeatedly!” Wukong shouted, kicking him down, but Macaque just went through a shadow door again and went high in a tree.

“You are not innocent in this, Wukong. You abandoned me for my own pursuits so I sought companionship and power elsewhere, can you really blame me?” He snarled.

Wukong zipped up the tree with inhumane speed. “I returned and you left the mountain in a state of collapse and ruin. Thousands died when they were supposed to be under your care, Macaque. You said you would care so I did not worry, but you failed me,” he spat quietly.

Macaque attempted to strike him with his staff but was blocked. “Wukong, I loved you more than anything else in the world and yet you left for a place you hated and immediately began to destroy! How low you must have thought of me–!” Macaque kicked him, but Wukong turned into a bird and flew to a higher branch before jumping down with his staff for a head strike Macaque barely blocked in time.

“Macaque, we were not meant to be– especially not as we were. I have grown over the past five hundred years– I have found a new family. I had thought perhaps you too would change as you cared for Flower Fruit Mountain but the years have only made you bitter, immature and cruel,” The stone Monkey said calmly as Macaque stepped back to breathe.

“You cannot say that you don’t love me Wukong. You swore you’d always– this is no different from a sparring match of our past-!”

“Macaque, we fought constantly. Everything was a competition– you always wanted to prove you were better than me and attempted to take my place,” Wukong sighed. “We were not meant to be– all we do is hurt one another.”

“All I wanted was to be your equal, peaches– to sit by your side as we burned the whole world down together–!” Macaque growled as he went back into the fight.

“The world is too good to be destroyed– I see that now Macaque–! And perhaps if you were not so stuck in the past you could see that too,” Wukong huffed, pulling some hairs and summoning an army of clones, which Macaque matched with his own.

“If I am stuck in the past it is because you left me there–! I am the monster of your own creation! I am your darkness, your wickedness you wished so hard to forget, but I’m still here! And I will always be here, waiting and itching you on until you finally learn to stop fucking hiding!!!” Macaque shouted, unsure of which was the right Wukong now.

“I apologize for leaving, Macaque, but this bitterness is something you are choosing. It has been over five hundred years– there are many others who could have filled my void, Macaque, and yet you chose hatred and wickedness instead,” The true Wukong evaporated a Macaque clone before glaring at him.

“I didn’t want anyone else–! I wanted you!” Macaque’s voice cracked at that.

Wukong sighed.

“I was foolish when I was young, Macaque. I did abandon everyone, and you should not want a person who did something like that to you,” Wukong said, stopping the clone army and stepping towards Macaque.

Macaque stopped him too, though he didn’t realize it.

“B-but you swore–”

“And I lied about a thousand things. Macaque, you must recognize this is not healthy for either of us. You must move on or pay for your crimes,” The King summoned his staff. “I have a new purpose now– a new family, as I said.”

“Some family– a monk who doesn’t hesitate to torture you with migraines because that Pig guy eggs him on,” Macaque scoffed.

“I’ve broken many rules, Macaque. I’ve a reputation of chaos and it doesn't help when shapeshifters like you make me look worse than I’ve already been,” Wukong glared.

“I don’t have time for further argument, Macaque. Will you choose moving on, or punishment?” He pointed his staff.

Macaque glared. “You can’t.”

“You’re right, I can’t,” Wukong sighed, before smirking and pointing behind. “But he can.”

Macaque barely had any time before he realized he had been talking to a clone and the real Wukong hurled his staff and—

Right through the chest, Macaque was impaled.

And he was in the underworld, locked tightly in chains.

The Sun had risen again, after banishing the Moon.

.o0o.

Time in the afterlife wasn’t something anybody bothered to keep track of, so Macaque couldn’t tell if he’d been dead for an hour or centuries, but when he started hearing whispers in a far off corner of his prison, he wondered if it was possible for the dead to go insane.

The whisper didn’t stop though, it kept nagging his name and attempting to grow louder and louder.

“Look lady– could you can it?? We’re dead, no chit chatting will change that,” He said, crossing his arms, his chains clinging.

The whisper laughed.

“Liu Er Mihou… I am no mere ‘lady’-- I am someone very, very powerful,” She chuckled. “I am the Lady Bone Demon, and I’ve come to make you a proposition.”

Suddenly the woman appeared in his cell– with long and flowing black hair and a dress of pure white. She would’ve looked like any other spirit, if it weren’t for a skeletal structure’s faint glow under her skin.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He rolled his eyes– he was fed up with demons and spirits or whatever the fuck.

“I want to bring you back to the mortal realm and free you of your chains,” She smiled almost too sweetly. All six of Macaque’s ears perked up.

“I’m… listening…” he said.

She laughed.

“You and I both know how wretched the world is– we could start over with you and Sun Wukong reunited and ruling planets and stars together as you always wanted as we reshape earth to become what we deem it should be,” She said, getting closer.

The name of his ex caused a chill down his spine.

“I guess you’re right, but how exactly are you supposed to free me if you’re also down here?” Macaque asked.

The lady patted his head. “I am not entirely dead as you are. I am merely trapped, unable to fully wake until somebody– you will set me free and help me achieve equilibrium.”

“So… to be clear… you only have powers over life and death down here?” Macaque asked.

“Yes, I am unable to reach my full potential without a host and without being freed, though my manipulation can grow if you follow my instruction,” She explained.

“Then you won’t be able to catch me if I run,” Macaque grinned.

“That sounds like a deal, Lady Bone Demon– you have my word, I will help you escape your curse if you bring me back to life,” he offered his chained hand.

“Then it is agreed,” The Lady Bone Demon smiled, her hand lighting with a blue flame that was disturbingly cold to the touch– to the point it felt like frostbite more than of flames, but as soon as that was done, Macaque blinked and he was…

Back.

He was…

Alive.

He reached into his pocket and found a little communication thingy, no doubt courtesy of the demoness.

It lit up with instruction, and he noticed a key in the ground with a pattern unlike anything he’d ever seen.

He tossed the communicator to the ground and headed east.

He didn’t care for her– he wanted revenge on that bastard who left and killed him.

No matter what it would take, he was going to get back on him, to make him feel an inkling of pain and sorrow he caused him.

He didn’t know if any of his stupid family was alive, but if they were then those would be his target.

He was going to destroy Wukong’s family one by one by one until it was him all alone and then Macaque would make him pay more than he ever had before.

The Sun could not stay up forever, and it looked like an Eclipse was on the horizon.

#jttw #lmk #shadowpeaches #macaque #sun wukong #lego monkie kid #liu er mihou #my fics #lovers to enemies #toxic relationship #poor mental health #journey to the west #idk what to tag this tbh #it's a lot of angst and drama #and macaque being a huge fucking asshole #yipee #also this heavily features jttw so uh #spoiler warning ig

52 notes · View notes