Chapter Text
Monkey King's wrath had not spared any of the demons so far except for the one who had nearly killed Mk, who had died a slow brutal death at the hands of Macaque.
Pigsy, Sandy, Mei, and Tang protect Mk's now unconscious body as Monkey King and Macaque wage war on the remainder of the demon army that had ambushed them on their quest to find a magical artifact.
In the end the battle was brutal and bloody as Macaque and Monkey King swiftly ended the battle without a care if any of their assailants had been left alive, their entire focus being on Mk and ending the battle as quickly as possible so they could get Mk help.
The doctors all said he couldn't be saved.
Monkey King stormed through heaven tearing it apart in search for the one person he knew could save Mk. He searched high and low subduing whoever got in his way he knew time was running out soon not even She would be able to save him.
Monkey King's rampage ceases soon after it starts with the appearance of a woman She is taller than him with gray hair that falls to Her knees, Her skin is wrinkled with Her age making Her look kind and warm, Her eyes are the deepest blue he's ever seen as if they hold the secret to everything. They do. "I need your help please, my successor he's hurt he's dying the doctors in the mortal realm can't heal him please I need your help I know you can do it please." Sun Wukong has never begged for anything but now he begs for the life of his successor before the only god older than the Jade Emperor himself She predates even names only ever being only referred to as "She" and "Her"
She takes pity on Monkey King whose desperation had spoken to Her kind-hearted and compassionate spirit. She takes Mk's body to Her part of the celestial realm She places Mk onto what looks like some kind of flower it glows when he's placed on it highlighting his extensive injuries Her face changes from a neutral expression to one of pity that looks more like a grimace than anything else. "His injuries are severe and extensive" She explains to Monkey King "I can save him but it will come with a price..."
Before She even finishes talking Monkey King interrupts Her "Price. What price? Actually scratch that it doesn't matter I'll do anything to save him."
"I'm sorry." She says "I admire your commitment to him but it is not your price to pay it's his."
"What's the price?" Monkey King asks Her the desperation is obvious in his voice
"Immortality"
Monkey King freezes because he knows how hard it is to be immortal. He knows what it means to live forever and how long forever actually is." Heal him please "
She looks at him with pity "I understand your desperation but don't make such a brash decision you know that immortality is a burden. I have seen into this boy's soul he loves to live in the moment immortality would kill him. Of course you are his idol, his role model, maybe an eternal life with you is his dream come true. No matter what you choose, his life will be over."
"But we're running out of time." Monkey King yells at Her.
She walks over to Mk's unconscious body She gently strokes his face almost like a mother would to her child, Her eyes full of empathy and sadness "He will not wake to make the decision himself but you will have enough time to discuss what to do about it..." She pauses before adding "With the people who love him." Her voice is light like a whisper and it's full of pity.
Pigsy is the first one to speak when Monkey King returns, "How's the kid, is he gonna be okay."
"Um okay about that" Monkey Kings says chuckling nervously scratching the back of his neck "She can save him", relief fills the faces of his friends, "But if She does he will be immortal.”
With those words all hell breaks loose.
“We can’t let him die!”
“He’ll hate being immortal!”
“Monkey King, this is all your fault!”
“He should be able to make the decision for himself!”
After the initial shock and shouting the rest of the group realizes that Macaque, who was normally the most talkative in the group at any given time, was uncharacteristically quiet.
“What do you think, Macaque?” Wukong’s voice is thick with desperation as he hopes Macaque will agree with him.
Macaque takes a deep breath “I don’t think the kid would want immortality.” his words come out slowly as if he has to fight to get them out.
“What you can’t possibly think that I mean I thought you liked the kid and now you want him to die. No wait I get it, you’re jealous of him you always have been you’re jealous of his power and of his relationship with me. He deserves to live!” Wukong is angry and yelling. He desperately wants all of them to agree that saving Mk is the right thing, he needs them to agree.
Macaque looks hurt but he doesn’t say anything else. Mei on the other hand does not hold her tongue “Mk is my best friend and I want him to be happy. He would never choose to live forever. He wants to be around his friends. He needs us just as much as we need him and if you stopped being selfish for just one second you would see that no matter how hard it is going to be we need to let him go!” Mei’s voice cracks near the end and tears start to form in her eyes.
“Maybe I’m not the selfish one, maybe you are! Mk deserves to live; he can survive without you! You need him more than he needs you!” Wukong yells at Mei not caring that he causes the tears forming in her eyes to spill over.
“Just because you feel guilty doesn’t mean you should have the final say in what happens to him. Mk panicked when we were all cursed to fall asleep. What do think will happen when we all actually die then he’ll have no one.” Pigsy is attempting to remain calm while attempting to reason with Wukong and console Mei at the same time.
Wukong seems to ignore Pigsy as he turns to Tang “What do you think?” Wukong forces his tone not to be hostile as he holds onto the hope that someone will agree with him.
“I think Mk should be immortal, I mean sure he loves us and all but he could live without us I mean we kind of hold him back you know? Monkey King is right we need him more than he needs us” Tang sounds unsure as he speaks which is a far cry from the usual self-assured tone he takes when talking about almost anything else.
Mei looks up at him from her place in Pigsy’s arms, she looks almost betrayed. She opens her mouth a couple of times like she’s about to say something but stops each time before any words come out before collapsing back into Pigsy’s arms and sobbing.
“We won’t solve anything by arguing with each other.” Sandy speaks up for the first time.
All heads turn to him “What do you think we should do then?” There is an underlying bitterness in Wukong’s voice.
“I don’t know but I do know that fighting isn’t going to solve anything.” Sandy’s voice has a positive note to it that is so obviously fake; a mask to the hurt that hides further inward.
Wukong glances at Sandy as he speaks then looks at the rest of the group in turn before turning around and summoning his cloud and flying away back up to heaven.
The last thing Wukong hears as he flies away is Macaques voice above the disgruntled shouting of the rest of the group “Wukong please for once just think about what you’re doing, your actions have consequences!”