Chapter Text
The scroll.
The scroll was the reason everybody was in the situation they were in at this very moment.
It could've been way different than this. Of course it was MK’s fault. It always was. DBK coming back and wanting to destroy the city was partly his fault, So was Spider Queen and The Lady Bone Demon. Yet he had always managed to defeat them. Cleaning up his own mess and dragging others into them. Speaking of him here he was. Sitting at the edge of a mountain. Staring down at his hands which were scarred, battered, and burned. Damaged. Damaged like how he had damaged others. He looked up at the setting sun, feeling the spark of tears prick the corner of his eyes. Here he was. Alone. No mentor. No friends. No family. Nobody but himself. He had left everybody at the spot on Camel ridge. Isolated. If he hadn’t even touched the scroll in the first place none of this would've happened. If he hadn’t even gone near it. Monkey King wouldn't be gone. The monkeys who roamed flower fruit mountain wouldn’t be gone either. MK grabbed the rock next to him, throwing it as far as he could, watching it fall below the clouds. Below wherever he was. He curled his tail around himself, holding his face in his hands as he sobbed.
“God damnit MK, good job on ending up in this mess.” He looked up before noticing the monkey that was laying next to him had run off. He heard it at least. He looked around him before spotting it near a rock. The Monkie kid decided instead of loathing around and being a mess maybe it’d be best to investigate. He got up, dusting himself off with a few swipes down his shirt before he actually started to walk over. He crouched down to meet the monkey’s level prior to spotting a small black hole appear in the ground. He glanced at it before noticing someone was going to appear from it. He backed away as he caught sight of a figure looking down at him. MK seemed to squeak at the frightening sight (according to him) before hearing the recognizable chuckle from the one and only Macaque. Well the Six-eared Macaque that was. “Really kid? You got spooked by me!?” The split furred simian seemed to find it funny as he was still laughing. “You should’ve known it was me, since well, shadows are kinda my thing.” He turned his head to meet an annoyed MK staring right back at him. Whom was just rolling his eyes and picking himself up. Macaque flicked his tail as it split in the middle; it seemed as if the night sky itself had been bleached by the sun. Making his fur look like the moon. Yet MK had always never really found Macaque's fur weird, he found it instead… fascinating.
“Really dad?” MK said as he once more arose from backing up on the ground. Shaking his head as his tail shook with him. Weird oddly enough. It’d take some time getting used to this.
“Where is everyone?” Macaque asked, completely ignoring MK’s question. The shadow simian seemed to look around. Only to realize that what looked like an empty cliff side was only accompanied by the leaves of the forest that faded as it reached the rocks of the cliff.
The brunette seemed to pause. He had completely forgotten he was alone. Well not anymore at least since Macaque had shown up. Yet he was still alone. Being the only “mystic monkey human” here. He spoke looking down from Macaque’s gaze. “I left them. I left them on Camel ridge.” The ravennette seemed to pause before staring at MK. Opening his mouth to speak, baring his fangs yet no words seem to come out. He shook his head before pinching the bridge of his nose. “You left them where. Do you know what this means.” MK seemed to lower his ears as he listened to Macaque yell at him. He was used to getting yelled at by Pigsy and Mei. Yet Macaque had always seemed to make him feel even more guilty. With the others he would just push the situation away. Just to shove it off like nothing happened. “I know I know! Azure’s back and he’s got Monkey King stuck in the scroll! I tried to get him back! But Azure split the scroll in half. The others tried to help but I was so stubborn I flew off. I failed all of y’all and I'm sorry! If it wasn’t for me none of y’all would’ve been in the mess I created!” MK started to cry once more, feeling the cold of the tears prick his cheeks. Running down them like the rain. He felt the soft touch of Macaque grasping him into a hug. Like the moon hugging a star, like it was his son. Yet MK was Macaque’s kid. He had known that since after the Lady Bone Demon. It became obvious after he was stuck in the scroll as well. Watching as Monkey king had sat by his stone watching it with every move. Protecting it. “Bud, it’s not your fault. You tried. That’s all that matters,” he spoke softly, lowering his head to touch the top of MK’s with his nose. Macaque felt his son sob into his chest, wrapping his tail around the younger one, and just rubbing his back in circles.“I might have something to help with this mess.” He spoke softly.
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MK sat in front of the big tv screen which sat right in the middle of the living room inside the place Wukong called his home. He stared at the TV looking at Macaque's “original” game. Looking back at the split simian he turned back and spoke, “Remind me what this is again?” He had said before letting the headset fall back over his eyes. Grabbing the control and trying to jump to the point of the game Macaque had pretty much copied. The teen really didn’t care about the copying yet Monkey king’s game hadn’t really helped him so how would Macaque’s. “Just play the game. I put a lot of effort into it after all” Macaque said with a smirk knowing MK couldn’t see him. The teen rolled his eyes which were covered by the headset. Looking around facing Macaque yet not truly seeing him, he knew he was there. He turned back, gripping the controller. “Uh yeah, I can tell.” MK replied as he skipped through pretty much the whole tutorial. Rushing through like always. Macaque just rolled his eyes as he continued to watch the kid play through the game. He knew that the kid had never really paid attention, given his short span of it, of course he wouldn’t sit through it.
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MK groaned as he threw the controller against the wall and took the headset off. He gripped the headset before tossing it aside as well and grabbing his hair in frustration. He looked over to Macaque as he pointed to the screen. “How is this supposed to teach me anything about being this-“ he stopped pointing at himself before continuing “Monkie demon thing!?” He exclaimed. MK wasn't used to this. Of course he wasn't. He didn't ask to be this monkey thing. He didn’t ask to be chosen for this. So how come he was chosen? How come he had to be the one to defeat The Demon Bull King. How come he had to put up with Monkey King’s mistakes. How come he had to be the one to fulfill his “destiny”. He shivered at the thought of the word ‘destiny’. Ever since The Lady Bone Demon, he never got used to saying it. Matters had just made it worse. Macaque sighed, “the point wasn't about that!” The ravennette said. MK sighed, “Then how am i supposed to learn anything anyways if i just keep ending up here” he said pointing back at the bad ending screen.
“That's the point.” Macaque finally answered. His tail flicking, its white pattern at the end made it seem like someone had just wiped the black color off. “No matter what choice you make you’ll always end up in the same spot.” The brunette looked back at Macaque as he was walking out. “Look kid, sometimes the choices you have aren't the only ones you got.” MK paused before he fully turned his head around from where he had sat, watching as the simian trotted off to him, his cape waving behind him. “You don’t wanna fight Azure cause people might get hurt. You don’t wanna not fight him cause people might get whurt, so do something else!” Macaque shouted as he approached MK where he was sitting, resting his hands on the younger boy’s shoulders. The simian looked into the teen’s eyes as he narrowed his own. “You have the choice here. It's up to your mind and heart to decide what's best” He spoke, before taking his hands off of the brunette’s shoulders and touching the kid’s chest near his heart, with his finger, before he had finally sat down from squatting.
MK sighed as he looked down from Macaque’s gaze, meeting it had just made him feel guilty. “And if I mess things up?” He had spoken. Macaque shook his head, “Look, I’ll be right by your side. We’ll get Wukong back. I promise.” Macaque said his tail curled near MK, just for the kid to wrap his own tail around it like a pinky promise. MK knew the damage he could cause, proven by the fact his ink self had called him the ‘harbinger of chaos’. He didn’t know how to feel. He didn’t know how to cope with it. Of course maybe he could just stay human. But one of them would force him to be his ‘true’ self. He shook his head. He just turned his gaze back up to Macaque and nodded.
“Then we’ll start with the Celestial Realm.”