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“Crystal Mask, here we come.” Zsasha let go of his vine and planted his feet on the wooden platform that marked the edge of the Treetop Village. He had been traversing through the Jangala Jungle for around a day now, but had only found one treasure so far. He jumped through a cannon and continued to silently run through the village. He looked around at the flower buds and jumped from flower to flower, swinging on each of them and safely landing on the other side. As he maneuvered through the Baki and the Bonobo, he eventually found himself at the base of the village tree, where all the monkeys had made their residence.
A Raposa in the Treetop Village was a new sight for the villagers, and Zsasha knew this. He kept climbing, angering some of the monkeys who noticed his grey and purple attire. As he made his way to the top of the tree, a horde of monkeys began to follow him. Zsasha stopped at the door to the Monkey King’s room and turned around to face the troop of monkeys.
“Alright monkeys, I know you all wish to kill me, but let’s come to a compromise. You get me into this room, and I’ll let you all go home.” One monkey stepped forward.
“We hear rumors of thief in jungle! Eek Eek! We not let Jungle Thief steal Monkey King’s throne!” Zsasha tried to explain what he was there for when the monkeys charged at him.
“I guess I have no choice,” Zsasha said, pulling out the only other treasure he had found, a wooden shield with the image of an ancient, Baki-like creature. He ran into the crowd of monkeys, only to find that they averted their eyes when the shield faced them. “You people are scared of this thing?” Zsasha asked, turning the shield around so that it faced him.
“Jungle Thief look at Angry God and live! Eek Eek! Jungle Thief destined to save us!” The monkeys ran to pick up Zsasha and carried him into the Monkey King’s throne room. As they ran up the tower, Zsasha overheard the Monkey King having a conversation with someone.
“Ook Ook! Monkey King’s Son want to leave Monkey King’s jungle? Ook Ook! Is Monkey King not good father?”
“Monkey King good father Uk! Son want more friends Uk! Son want friends that not monkeys Uk!”
“Ook Ook! Monkey King find Son new friends! Ook Ook! Monkey King get friends from Queen Mari’s jungle!” Hearing Mari’s name, Zsasha began to squirm.
“Let me go! I won’t let your king hurt my friends!” Ignoring his cries, the monkeys dumped Zsasha off in front of the Monkey King’s throne and explained Zsasha’s importance to their leader.
“Ook Ook! Jungle Thief new friend for Son! Ook Ook! Jungle Thief not enrage Angry God!”
“I don’t care what you do to me, but I will not let you hurt anyone in my village!” Zsasha said, brandishing the shield once more. The Monkey King looked away, but the Monkey King’s Son walked up to the shield, and touched the face of the ancient Baki. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the room with a puff of smoke.
“Angry God send punishment! Eek Eek! Monkey King’s Son doomed us all!” The monkeys shouted as they scattered back through the tower and into the jungle. Zsasha used the chaos to run and hide behind a box of apples, and he watched as the figure attacked the Monkey King.
“Give me the Crystal Mask old monkey! I won’t hesitate to hurt you!”
“Ook Ook! Bad Inky go home! Ook Ook! Bad Inky bad friend for Son!” With those words, he stood up and swung his staff towards the figure, causing them to teleport out of the way. Zsasha watched as the two fought, with the Monkey King swinging his staff and tail at the figure in vain. As the two fought, the Monkey King’s Son ran behind the crates and hid with Zsasha.
“Hey little guy,” he said in a soothing voice. “I’ll protect you from that monster, ok?”
“Jungle Thief new friend Uk! Son stay with Jungle Thief Uk!” The Monkey King’s Son climbed onto Zsasha’s backpack and grabbed his mask, watching as the fight raged on.
“I can dodge your attacks all day! Give me that mask and we can end all of this right now!” Just then, the figure noticed the Monkey King’s Son peeking out from over the boxes, prompting them to teleport behind him. They grabbed the monkey from Zsasha’s backpack and teleported back to the battlefield, presenting them to the King. “Stop the attacks or I drop your son into those spikes!” The room went silent.
“Daddy! Jungle Thief! Help me Uk!” The Monkey King watched as the figure inched closer to the edge of the platform, dangling the child in the air. Zsasha saw that the monkey had grabbed his purple mask, so Zsasha readied his shield and began to move out from behind the boxes.
“Ook Ook! Give Son back and Monkey King give monster Mask.” The figure mulled over the terms in their head before setting the Monkey King’s Son down on the ground, taking the purple mask out of its hand, and watching it run back to its father.
“The mask. Now.” As the figure spoke, Zsasha charged at them with the shield, pushing them down to the bottom of the tower.
“Hide the mask and get your son out of here, now!” he yelled. The Monkey King’s Son ran out through the Jangala gate and hid inside a purple house at the edge of Rapoville. The shadowy figure reappeared at the top of the tower, this time with an army of Shadow Walkers by their side.
“Alright then. If you don’t want to cooperate with me, we can do this my way.” The Shadow Walkers began to jump off the edge of the platform and inhabit the tower below. “Don’t get any ideas about running through this gate either,” they said as they read a spell from an ancient, green book. As the figure read the spell, Zsasha crept up behind them again, reaching for his mask.
“Ook Ook! Jungle Thief no touch monster! Ook Ook! Monster create Bad Inkies!” The figure turned around and smirked as Zsasha jumped for his mask.
“Aw, does the petty thief want his silly mask back? Sorry Zsasha, I’m hiding this where no one will ever find it.” With that, the figure disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the Monkey King and Zsasha alone in the tower, guarded by Shadow Walkers.
“Ook Ook! Monkey King protect Thief friend from Bad Inkies! Ook Ook! Thief friend stay with Monkey King until Inkies leave!” Zsasha sighed and sat on the ground next to the Monkey King, and his anger quickly turned to boredom in the Treetop Village.